Remember Me
by MyGoldenBeauty
Summary: Belle remembers. And her father never lets her talk to Mr Gold. But one day she decides to visit the Pawnshop. Does he remember? Of course he doesn't, he's cursed like everyone else in this town. But what happens when they start talking?
1. Chapter 1

She was going to do it. Today was the day she would actually do it. Her father had never allowed her, but she never had any intention of actually listening to him. Yes, today was the day she would visit the pawnshop.

It was Belle's lunch break. She was the town's librarian and her father was the manager. He'd always told her not to talk to the local pawnbroker: Mr Gold. He didn't trust him and he thought him to be a dangerous man. Belle always thought he was exaggerating a little, but never dared questioned her father.

Before heading out to lunch with Ruby (at least that's what she told her father anyway) she heard the manager call from the back of the library,

"Belle, nowhere near that pawnshop, you hear me?" his tone was completely serious, but Belle couldn't help smile,

"Yes papa, I'll be back in half an hour." And she pushed open the doors, heading straight for Mr Gold's Pawnshop. Belle would've done this ages ago, but not because her father wouldn't let her. Simply because she was afraid to. She'd never had the courage to talk to him. How would she? How could she? How do you talk to the man of your dreams when he doesn't even remember you? But Belle had to talk to him. She couldn't stand the fact that their two shops were just round the corner from each other and she'd never even met the man. Well in this world at least.

When Belle reached the pawnshop she realised she didn't even know what she was going to say. It'll come to her when she sees him. Hopefully. When Belle put up her hand to push the door open she realised she was shaking slightly. _Oh great. I'm going to muck this up so badly. _

She pushed open the door and the bell above her rang, signalling her entrance.

He wasn't there. Rumplestiltskin wasn't there. She felt a wave of sadness and disappointment rush over her. She felt tears begin to prickle her eyes but she quickly blinked them away and cleared her throat,

"R-Mr Gold?" she quickly corrected herself. The new name felt weird on her tongue.

She didn't like it.

No reply. She tried again. Louder this time.

"Hello? Mr Gold? Are you here?" she was only answered with more silence. No one came. So, sighing sadly, she turned around to leave.

"Miss French?" a voice from behind stopped Belle in her tracks. Her heart immediately lifted and she simply could not stop the smile that tugged the corners of her lips.

He was here. She turned around with a huge grin across her face,

"Mr Gold," She said cheerfully, looking at the man who stood behind the counter. He seemed confused, surprised. Maybe, pleasantly surprised?

Belle was desperately trying to hide her trembling hands. She didn't know why she felt so nervous. It's only Rumplestiltskin.

"Please, call me Belle." She didn't like the way a lot of people called her 'Miss French'. It was too formal. Just Belle.

"Belle." Rumplestiltskin smiled gently, not continuing to call her Miss French as most people did. His smile sent butterflies through her stomach. She loved the way he'd only smiled-_really_ smiled- for her. "Quite unusual to see you here. I believe we haven't met." He added. Belle felt her smile fade a little, the last sentence reminding her of how both of them were supposed to have never met before in this cursed town.

"No, I believe we haven't." she said quietly. She walked up to the counter where Rumplestiltskin was resting both hands on his cane, and he said,

"So, may I help you with anything, Belle?" he asked casually, smiling gently, purposely using her name. And she loved it. But Belle was absently staring into his eyes. _They've changed colour_. She thought. She was looking for any recognition in them. Belle had always found that in Rumplestiltskin's eyes, the truth can always be found. But this was Mr Gold. And his thoughts and emotion were hidden behind a mask.

Then Belle suddenly realised she hadn't answered his question,

"Oh, um, yes. I'm, uh, looking for a new book," she stuttered. Belle wasn't that good at lying on the spot. So she leaned forward on the counter, resting her hands on the corner. Trying to seem a little more casual.

"I see. And is there any book in particular you are looking for?" Belle's eyes sparkled as she nodded.

"Beauty and the Beast." Rumplestiltskin was silent for a moment before speaking.

"Ah, the fairytale. I've never really liked that story." He said with a smile, and Belle returned it, liking his answer.

"Me neither. It seemed a bit…wrong, to me." she said slowly, looking for the right word. And Belle wasn't lying. She didn't like the way the fairytale version of them had practically all their facts wrong.

"Then may I ask why you are looking for this book, if you dislike it so much?" he said with what seemed like an amused smile. Belle's eyes were long and distant and she didn't seem entirely focused.

"Just to see if you remembered." She spoke without thinking, and then immediately froze when she realised what she had just said.

"Excuse me?" Rumplestiltskin asked, seeming a little less confused than Belle had expected. But she still tried desperately to think of an excuse.

"Um, I meant, if you remembered what the book was about." She said quickly, screwing up her face a little, hoping that was a good enough explanation. Rumplestiltskin flashed a big smile and she knew she was safe.

"I see. Well, would you like me to find that book for you?" Belle dipped her head and smiled, then looked back up.

"Yes please." Then he nodded and limped off into his office. Belle felt sorry for him, that his curse was to walk around with a bad leg, and what seemed like no family or friends. _Damn this cursed town. _

Belle started wandering round the shop. Looking at various items that hadn't been touched in years. A beautiful baby's mobile hung in the air, with glass unicorns and other ornaments that sparkled in the sunlight. She guessed this might have belonged to Snow White and Prince Charming, to give to baby Emma. Then Belle walked past on of the counters that held two dolls sitting side by side. She shivered. These were the same two dolls Rumplestiltskin had kept in his castle. Belle never liked them. They freaked her out. And yet she still had to dust them every day.

She smiled to herself. Remembering the time when she had worked for the Dark One.

It seemed everyone's possessions from their world, that they don't use here, were kept here in the pawnshop.

Belle stopped, frozen to the spot as all the air left her lungs and her heart stopped. She had made her way back to the main counter where she had been talking to Rumplestiltskin. And she hadn't seen it until now.

In the glass cabinet she had been leaning on, was a set of china. And in the middle of the set was a chipped cup. _The _chipped cup.

Belle looked down at it through the glass and the tiniest bit of hope flowed through her body. If he'd kept the cup then he _must_ remember. He must…

"Here you go, Belle. One copy of Beauty and the Beast." Rumplestiltskin stepped out of his office to see Belle staring at the chipped cup. "Belle?" he said, and hobbled over to the counter, opposite Belle, placing the book to the side.

"You have a chipped cup." She breathed without looking up.

"Yes." Rumplestiltskin said casually. Belle looked up, sadness clearly showing in her face. He wasn't showing her he remembered.

"But, why? Why would you display it here if it's…chipped?" she looked pleadingly into his eyes, searching for an answer, begging him to remember.

Rumplestiltskin stepped out from behind the counter and stood in front of Belle. He was standing close. So close…

"Just to see if you remembered."

Belle's heart stopped, and her eyes filled with tears as she looked up at him.

"Rumplestiltskin?" she whispered. He put his hand on her cheek and leaned forward.

And kissed her.

Belle closed her eyes, savouring the moment. This was happening so fast. But she smiled against his lips as his kissed her softly. Oh, so softly. As if he were afraid he might break her.

Belle wrapped her arms around his neck and then pulled her lips away, resting her forehead against his.

"You remember?" she breathed.

Rumplestiltskin wrapped his arm around Belle's waist, bringing her closer. He put his mouth against her ear and whispered softly,

"I remember."


	2. Chapter 2

**This story was supposed to be just a one-shot, but you guys have asked me to write another chapter. And there are many more to come. **

**This is my first time writing chapters, so I hope this turned out well. **

**Anyway, here it is. Hope you enjoy!**

They stood in the pawn shop. Her arms around his neck and his arms around her waist. They were together again. And that's all that mattered.

Belle rested her head on Rumplestiltskin's shoulder and she closed her eyes. Wanting to stay in this moment forever. Still not believing that even after travelling across worlds, they could still be together.

Rumplestiltskin kept Belle close to him, planting gentle little kisses along her neck. How long had he wanted to kiss her again? To feel her skin against his? Now that they were finally together again, he never wanted to leave her side.

"Rumplestiltskin?" Belle hummed. "I don't want to leave." she felt Rumplestiltskin smile against her skin.

"Me neither." he whispered. He began to stroke her hair for a moment, soothing her into happy thoughts, before he spoke again, "You know we can't let anyone know about this." Belle nodded sadly against Rumplestiltskin's shoulder. She didn't want to have to keep this from everyone. But she knew she had no choice.

"I know." Belle lifted her head, and Rumplestiltskin did the same, so that their faces were almost touching. "I have to get back to the library." she spoke barely above a whisper, and she immediately felt his arm tighten around her waist. It didn't hurt. In fact, it made her feel better. Knowing Rumplestiltskin didn't want her to leave.

He rested his forehead against hers.

"Don't go." he whispered. Belle almost laughed, but she made it come out soft and quiet.

"We can't stay like this forever." she smiled. Rumplestiltskin smiled back, and his eyes gleamed.

"Says who?" Belle shook her head.

"Says me." she grinned, but she didn't move. Her eyes fell to Rumplestiltskin's lips.

"Aren't you going to give me a goodbye kiss?" she teased. Belle had barely finished the sentence before Rumplestiltskin moved his head closer and pressed his lips against hers. Her arms around his neck pulled him in closer, and Rumplestiltskin's arm tightened a little around her waist, keeping her close.

They didn't even hear the bell ring.

Or see who walked in.

"Mr Gold?!" The sound of the shocked voice made Belle and Rumplestiltskin both jump and quickly back away from each other. But it was too late.

"Henry," Rumplestiltskin said, almost angrily, "What are you doing here?" his usual calm, cool voice had disappeared.

"Well, I was coming to ask you something, but..." Henry's once shocked face had slowly turned into a big grin. Both Belle and Rumplestiltskin shifted uncomfortably in the silence that followed. "Why were you two kissing?" he asked with a cheeky smile. Belle looked over at Rumplestiltskin nervously, biting her thumb nail. She hadn't really known Henry that much, and she didn't know if he was the type of person to open his big mouth to everyone. All she knew is that he believed in the curse. And was trying as hard as he possibly could to get Emma to see the truth.

"That is none of your concern, Henry." Rumplestiltskin replied as calmly as he could. But alarms were being set off in his head every second this kid hung around.

The 10-year-old ignored Rumplestiltskin's reply and turned to Belle.

"Why were you kissing him?" he repeated, standing firmly where he was, showing he wasn't going anywhere until he got an answer. Belle bit down harder on her nail. Was she supposed to tell him the truth or not?

"Well, Mr Gold and I, we..." Belle stuttered, unsure of how to finish her sentence. Rumplestiltskin took a small step closer to Henry, and looked at him seriously.

"Look, Henry, you can't tell anyone about this, alright? This wouldn't go around well if people found out." Henry slowly nodded as Rumplestiltskin patiently allowed his words to sink in. And then his eyes widened.

"You remember!" he said with an excited smile that grew as he watched the expression on the couples faces. Both Rumplestiltskin and Belle seemed shocked. This was one smart kid.

When neither of them replied Henry's suspicions were confirmed. Their silence was the only answer he needed. "You two remember! You're Rumplestiltskin and Belle! This is great, I need to go get Emma!" he turned around and Belle was quick to firmly grab him by the wrist, crouching down to his height.

"No, no, no, sweetheart," she said gently, "you can't go tell anyone about this." she looked into Henry's eyes and gave him a look that showed she was being completely serious. "No one must know about Mr Gold-"

"Rumplestiltskin." he corrected. Belle closed her eyes and sighed slowly, collecting her thoughts, and when she opened them again she spoke,

"No one must know about Rumplestiltskin and I."

"Belle-" Rumplestiltskin started but she quickly turned round.

"I'm not lying to him!" she snapped, "If we lie about remembering then this curse will never be broken." Henry smiled, listening to someone else talk about the curse made him feel like he wasn't the only sane one here. The only one who believed.

Belle turned back to Henry.

"But if you tell anyone about this, they aren't going to believe you, and we're not going to look good to people." she said sadly. He seemed disappointed, and his smile faded. "And above all, you cannot tell my father. He mustn't even know that we met." Belle's father would be angry enough if he found out that Belle deliberately went to talk to Rumplestiltskin. But when he found out she kissed him on their first meeting, well, there was going to be hell to pay.

Henry shook his head,

"But-"

"Henry. Please?" Belle was still holding his wrist. She gently squeezed it, silently asking him to listen to her.

After a few moments in silence Henry finally nodded his head. Belle grinned.

"Thank you." she whispered, and let go of his wrist. Henry looked up at Rumplestiltskin- who didn't seem entirely sure of how Belle had handled the situation- and looked back down at her.

"You know we're going to talk about this later." he smiled, but looked at her seriously. Belle smiled back, and almost laughed.

"Sure, Henry." he started to walk backwards,

"Good." he took one last look at the pawnbroker-or Dark One- and rushed out the door.

Cute kid.

Belle stood up and sighed. She looked at Rumplestiltskin as he shook his head.

"You shouldn't have done that." Belle frowned.

"What do you mean I shouldn't have done that? He deserves the truth. I'm not going to lie to him."

"Yes, but he's only a little kid. You can't trust him to keep this from _everyone." _Belle shook her head.

"He's a smart boy. He'll know not to tell anyone if he knows whats best for the curse." Rumplestiltskin didn't seem so sure. He'd known this type of thing to happen before. Little kids can't be trusted. No matter what they promise you.

"Well, I won't be the one making up excuses when people start to ask questions." but both him and Belle knew he was lying. He'd do anything for her. Anything to save them from being separated again. Anything to keep Belle happy.

"They won't ask questions." she assured him, "I trust him. No matter what you say." Rumplestiltskin sighed in defeat.

"No matter what I say?" he smiled, teasing her. Belle grinned.

"No matter what you say." she repeated. Rumplestiltskin stepped closer to Belle, the three feet distance between them being too long for him to talk to her.

"Why is it so important that your father doesn't find out about us?" he asked, changing the subject. Belle softly smiled.

"He doesn't like you." she said simply.

"Ah, I see." Rumplestiltskin nodded. He knew he wasn't very much liked by anyone. In this world or the previous one.

"That's why I never got to meet you." she continued, "He didn't even want us talking." Rumplestiltskn nodded again. He knew exactly why Belle's father was so cautious of him. His feelings for the pawnbroker remained the same from their previous life. His instinct would tell him that if he let his daughter go near him something bad would happen.

"I have to go." Belle said suddenly, quietly. Of course she didn't _want _to. But she had no choice. She told her father she'd be back in half and hour. And her time was almost up.

Rumplestiltskin only nodded. She stepped forward and hugged him. Putting her arms around his back and holding him close. And Rumplestiltskin did the same. Hugged her back. Stroked her hair and kissed her on the head, her soft hair tickling his nose.

Eventually they let go and Rumplestiltskin planted one last kiss on Belle's forehead before she started to leave the shop.

"I'll see you later." he called after her. Belle turned around and flashed him a quick smile.

"See you later."

* * *

Belle arrived at the library. She sat down at her desk and forced herself to go into work-mode.

But she couldn't.

Her mind was too focused on Rumplestiltskin. And Henry. Deep down she wasn't actually sure if she did completely trust the boy. He was only 10. He didn't understand the consequences of all this if it got out. Her father would kill her, people would think both her and Rumplestiltskin are crazy, and who knows what would happen if people thought that the strange couple both believed that they were fairytale characters. And that have been taken from their own world and cursed to live in this land without magic for the rest of eternity. It wouldn't be good, that's for sure. But she wasn't going to lie to Henry. And she wasn't going to make up excuses. Belle didn't want to have to talk him out of his crazy theories and beliefs of this town. Your imagination was the only thing that kept you going on. That gave you hope. And that hope would make you stronger. Make you chase after your dreams. And make anything you dream, possible.

Belle had only been sitting at her desk for about a minute when her father came through from his office.

"Hello Papa!" she said cheerfully, trying to act like her normal-self. He only greeted her by smiling.

"Someone left this for you." he said, and dropped a copy of _Beauty and the Beast _onto the desk. Belle stared wide-eyed at the book. _How did he get it here? _She'd left before him. That show-off.

"Who?" she asked casually, looking up at her father. He shrugged.

"I'm not sure. I found it outside the door just before you came with this on it." he took out a sticky note with one word on it. One name.

_Belle._

She dipped her head to and pretended to look at the book. Hidden behind her hair, she smiled.

"Okay. Thank you Papa." And he walked off without another word. She opened the book and began to read.

A few minutes later Emma walked into the library and towards Belle. She looked up from her desk with a friendly smile on here face, placing the book to the side.

"Hello Emma."

"Hey, Miss French." she forced a weak smile on her face.

"Can I help you?" she asked. Emma sighed and rang her hand through her blonde hair. She seemed a little stressed.

"Yes, actually. I'm looking for someone: Kathryn Nolan. Have you heard anything about her in the past few days?" Belle had heard that she'd gone missing. She'd never met her, but she knew the story about her. About David and Mary-Margret. Everyone had.

She shook her head.

"No, sorry, I haven't."

"You sure? You don't have her in your files or anything? Maybe she loaned out a book recently or..." Belle started to shake her head.

"Would that _really _help?" she asked, but started looking in her computer anyway. Emma shrugged.

"Probably not." Belle shook her head once again.

"Sorry," she said looked up from the screen, "she's not here."

"Alright, well, if you do hear anything about her then make sure to let me know." she smiled weakly. Being the sheriff must be a stressful job.

"Of course." Belle smiled sympathetically. Emma nodded.

Then she turned and left. Belle couldn't help feeling sorry for Emma. She's had to deal with so much since she got here. Her and Regina had instantly hated each other and Henry was telling her his crazy theories about a curse. Well, obviously not crazy. Emma thought of it that way.

This Kathryn case seemed to stress her out. Belle wanted to help. But she'd never even met the woman. And right now, she needed to concentrate on her work.

So she pulled the book back out.

* * *

Emma sat in a booth in Granny's cafe sipping a mug of hot chocolate with cinnamon- her favourite. It made her feel more relaxed. This Kathryn case was impossible. How had Regina covered this up so well? But she would find out. She would beat Regina. She just needed to think straight.

Then Henry walked in. She was quite happy to see the little kid. Maybe some time in his company would ease her mind a little.

"Hey Emma!" he smiled slipping into the chair opposite her.

"Hey Henry." she smiled back.

"How's the Kathryn case going?" Emma placed her mug on the table in front of her and sighed.

"Not so good. Can't find anything about her whereabouts in the last couple of days."

"Well, who have you talked to?" Henry asked, trying to be a little helpful.

"David, Mary-Margret, one of the teachers down at the school, oh, and I just came back from asking Miss French down at the library."

Henry nodded. The mention of Miss French had reminded him of his earlier promise to her. Well, technically, he hadn't _promised _her. Just said he wouldn't tell anyone. Emma wasn't just _anyone. _

"I talked to Miss French today." he mentioned casually.

"Oh yeah?" Emma picked up her mug, taking another sip, "What did you guys talk about?"

"The curse." he said slowly, not exactly lying. Emma shook her head, stopping him before he even started.

"Look, kid, I'm not in the mood for it today." Henry felt that thing again. That thing whenever Emma didn't want to hear what he had to say. When she didn't want to believe. His smile faded.

"But Emma-"

"Henry." she glared at him warningly. Henry kept quiet. Then he remembered. He agreed not to tell anyone about them _kissing. _Not about them _remembering._

"Mr Gold and Miss French remember." he said quietly.

"What?" Emma almost choked on her coco. Henry grinned.

"They told me they remember! Mr Gold is Rumplestiltskin! And Miss French is Belle! From Beauty and the-"

"_Henry!_" she hissed. This was all she needed. "I'm not talking about this with you now."

"But-" he couldn't help himself.

"_No, _Henry."

"I saw them kissing!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello people! Sorry this is short. But I needed to end it how it does so...well, you'll see what I mean when you read it.  
I'll try to upload a new chapter every week.  
I'm not sure if this is going to work how I want it to so, don't expect anything amazing from me :/  
Anyway, here:**

8pm. Time to lock up.

Belle's father had left the library an hour earlier to get some 'business sorted out around the town.' She was in charge to lock up. Belle didn't mind that her father left. She hardly ever saw him anyway, with him always being cooped up in that little office of his. She actually preferred it when he wasn't around. She could wander round the shelves without worrying about her father coming out and demanding that she return to her desk immediately. Belle had more freedom without him.

So she collected her book from the desk before quickly snatching up the keys from her father's office.

Belle closed the door behind her after switching off all the lights and taking out the keys to lock the door. Just as she heard the door click, telling her it was locked, she felt someone grab her waist, making her drop both the keys and book.

Gasping as she was pulled backward, a hand quickly clamped over her mouth, and someone pressed their mouth to her ear,

"Shh." they whispered. Belle's heartbeat grew faster and faster every second this person's arms were around her waist.

So she quickly made her attempt to free herself from their grip and they surprisingly let her go.  
Belle turned around to see the very man that had been imprinted into her mind for the whole day.

"_Rumplestiltskin!_" she hissed. The imp grinned with humour at his annoyed little Belle.  
She bent down and picked up her book and keys, and he soon found himself being whacked with the hardback on his arm several times. "_Don't, do, that!"_ she almost shouted, using each word to hit Rumplestiltskin harder on the arm, and he laughed. Amused at his love. She was annoyed, but couldn't help smile.

"Okay, okay, Belle. Stop." He asked, still laughing slightly. Belle stopped with a frustrated sigh and let her arm fall to her side.

"Why did you do that?" Rumplestiltskin laughed again, and Belle gave him another thwack on the arm to shut him up.

"You have quite an arm for such a delicate little rose." He smiled, rubbing a hand on his beaten arm.

"Why did you do that, Rumplestiltskin?" she repeated.

"I'm sorry Belle. I wanted to surprise you. I didn't expect you to get so scared." He managed a calmer voice now. The hint of guilt in Rumplestiltskin's voice made Belle smile.

"You surprised me alright." she smiled. "I guess I just overreacted." Belle dipped her head a little, trying to hide her embarrassment. Then when she looked back up she grinned, "Don't do that again." Belle pointed the book at Rumplestiltskin as a warning. Nonetheless, he smiled, and took her other hand. She quickly pulled away and shook her head, "We're not supposed to know each other. Remember?"

Rumplestiltskin, sadly, did remember. They weren't supposed to be seen together. His smile faded and he took a step back, starting to leave. The street was practically empty but they couldn't risk it.

"Yes." He said simply. Belle's smiled faded too.

"Then how are we supposed to see each other?" her voice cracked a little, clearly showing her sadness. There was silence between them as they both considered the question.

And Rumplestiltskin was quick to think up of an idea. It wasn't ideal, but it'll have to do for the time being.

"You could meet me in the back of my shop every lunch." He suggested. And Belle's face lit up with a beaming smile.

"Okay." That way no one would see them, and Belle could tell her father she was going to see Ruby or something. She would have to think of an excuse later. "One o'clock, tomorrow." She nodded.

"And every day after." He added, then quickly looked round. "I don't suppose we're even supposed to be seen talking. I haven't met you, after all." Belle smiled sadly and sighed.

"No." she quickly looked around too. "No one's here at the moment." She said hopefully. By now, all the shops were closed and no one really had any reason to be walking in the streets. Rumplestiltskin took a step forward. Without thinking twice, Belle quickly put her arms around him and hugged him tight. He did the same and kissed the top of her head. He whispered into her hair, it tickling him as he spoke,

"See you tomorrow." Both of them knew it was too risky to do anything more but hug. Unfortunately, this was just one of the many sacrifices they would have to make if they weren't to be found as an insane couple that kissed on their first meeting.

The hug had only lasted about three seconds before they pulled away.

"See you tomorrow." Belle replied back. And they both turned and left. Forcing themselves not to look back behind them.

* * *

The next morning.

Emma had found Kathryn at the back of the café yesterday. She could finally rest over this case. That was, until Henry had told her about Mr Gold and Miss French. Of course she didn't believe him about them remembering their previous lives in fairytale land. But she had no reason not to believe him about them kissing. This interested Emma. She was going to find out about this. Unless it was just one another of Henry's little stories.

The saviour was walking down to the sheriff's office when she passed the pawnshop. No one was inside. That was unusual. Mr Gold always seemed to be hanging around in there. Not to actually do his job, but waiting for some unfortunate person to walk in and make a regrettable deal with him.  
So what was so important that he wasn't there for?

The same thing happened when she passed the library. No one there. Miss French is usually there all the time. As far as she knew, the town's librarian didn't have much of a social life. So where could she be?

This whole Mr Gold and Miss French thing was making Emma even more suspicious now that she saw that both of them were out of their place at the same time. Maybe Henry was telling the truth. About the whole kissing scene, she quickly reminded herself, not the curse.

When Emma got to the office she realised she didn't actually know much about the town librarian: Miss French. She decided to look her up in the towns files. She immediately went straight to the cabinet and fiddled through the files, soon realising she didn't even know her first name. _Just look for French. _She thought.

She quickly scanned the files looking for the name of French. And soon enough there it was. Emma grabbed the file and slumped into her chair, put her feet up on the desk, and opened the file.

_Belle French_

_Age: 31_

_Family: Father, Moe French. Mother, deceased (date of death unknown)_

_Employment: Librarian_

_Marital status: Unmarried_

_Additional information: Discharged from the psychiatric hospital in February 2012. _That was only a year ago, she thought.  
_Was known for tantrums and screaming when around the local pawnbroker: Mr Gold. _

Emma found herself frowning a little at this part. _Mr Gold? _What was so special about the pawnbroker that she only freaked out around him?

_Only recently finished recovering with Dr Hopper from minor psychological problems. Strongly recommended to be reported to Mayor Mills if any suspicious behaviour occurs again._

Suspicious behaviour? Emma read through the file again, trying to match up the description it gave her to what little she knew about the woman. She definitely would never had guessed that she was recovering from psychological problems.

_Report to Mayor Mills? _

Emma dropped the file on the desk in front of her and looked at the phone. Without a second thought she picked it up and dialled the number.


	4. Chapter 4

**Aha! I didn't actually say she was phoning Regina. I said she was dialing the number. The number to...**

"Hello?" The voice on the other end of the phone had answered the call within two short seconds.

"Dr Whale, hi it's Emma."

"Emma, what can I do for you?" the doctor sounded a little surprised to be getting a call from the sherif.

"I was just wondering if I can get some information on a patient you were recently caring for in the psychiatric hospital."

"Miss Swan, I'm afraid any information I have on any patient is confidential, and can only be discussed with immediate family." Emma sighed.

"Are you sure? I just want to ask a few questions about what she-"

"Miss Swan," Dr Whale interrupted, getting more impatient, "I cannot give any information about this person unless you are immediate family. However, if you have anything to report on this particular patient you may say so." Emma was silent for a moment. She was thinking.

"Okay, well, don't worry then." She opened the file and quickly scanned through it once more before closing it and standing up.

"Alright, well, if you need any help on anything else, please ask."

"Yes, thank you Doctor Whale." And Emma ended the call without letting him reply.  
She looked down at the file and picked it up, opened the cabinet, and put it back in its place. She wanted to find out more about this girl now. She definitely would never have guessed that she had just recovered from "psychological problems." Miss French seemed perfectly normal. And Regina was the one that had written this report on her (Emma had noticed this had been printed on the file after a couple of times looking it over.) And Emma knew all too well that Regina wasn't to be trusted. But surely she wouldn't write a fake report on this girl. This whole thing didn't really seem right. Emma was going to have to get a second opinion.

So she left for the library.

"Hey Emma!" a chirpy Ruby's voice came from behind her as she passed the café.

"Hey Ruby." she waved back and carried on walking before looking at her watch.

_12:40_

* * *

Belle sat at her desk, staring at the clock on the wall opposite her.

_12:30_

Half an hour longer and it would be her lunch break. Which would mean she could go and see Rumplestiltskin. Belle swore that last time she looked at the clock it had been 12:30. But she had been sitting there for at least ten minutes. Was she that desperate to see him? But Belle wasn't ashamed to admit it. Yes. She was desperate. Anyone would be if you hadn't seen the love of your life in 28 years and was forced to hide it from people. But that was part of life. Part of the curse. Until it breaks.

Belle forced herself to carry on working and not look back up at the clock. But obviously that was much easier said than done. She would seriously have to start concentrating on her work if she didn't want her father to start getting suspicious. That was all she needed.

"Belle." the sound of her father's voice startled her out of her daydream and she turned round quickly.

"Papa," she breathed, "you scared me." Moe didn't so much as smile to her reply.

"It's one o'clock. You better head out to lunch now if you want to be back in time." Belle looked up at the clock and smiled.

"Yes I should, shouldn't I?" she spoke quietly, then stood up.

"You're just meeting with Ruby?" he asked, making it sound more like a command. Belle sighed, not liking to lie.

"Yes, Papa. See you in half an hour." and quickly left without letting him say another word.

Belle practically skipped down the road, feeling happy and giggly. When she had woken up this morning she had been afraid that the whole of yesterday was only a dream. But then she found her copy of _Beauty and the Beast, _along with the note that came with it.  
_Belle. _It had said. She kept it with her. Stuck it on the side of the computer at the library.

Belle reached the pawnshop, but walked past it, and straight to the back. Where Rumplestiltskin had just opened the door for her. She grinned as she walked past him, and he said with a smile,

"You got here quickly." He closed the door.

"You say that as if it's a bad thing?" she teased, and waited until she had turned back round to him to speak again, "Would you have preferred if I came later?" Belle said, using a mocking frown. Rumplestiltskin laughed a little and stood right in front of her, placing his hands on her arms, rubbing them from the slightly cold weather outside.

"I would have preferred if you could stay with me all the time." He said quietly.  
Belle smiled a little sadly and took one of his hands, and brought it up to her lips. She gently kissed it and whispered against his skin,

"I would too," she brought her lips away from his hand for a brief moment, "But you know we can't." then once again, she kissed his hand. It brought her comfort to know that she could do this type of thing, now that they were together again and they both knew they loved each other. She could kiss him whenever she liked without getting thrown out of his home.

Belle sighed sadly, "When will this curse end?" Rumplestiltskin took both his hands and placed them on her face.

"Soon."

"I miss our world." she whispered.

Rumplestiltskin leaned his head against hers.

"I know. We just have to be a little patient."

"Patient for what?"

"For the saviour to believe."

"And the saviour's Emma, right?" Rumplestiltskin smiled a little, the thought of Emma believing slightly amused him.

"Right." he lifted his head up, "But you haven't got long. How about a little lunch?"

Belle smiled, "That would be wonderful."

* * *

Emma pushed open the door of the library to find it empty.

"Hello?" she walked up to the desk, "Anyone here?"  
The only noise she could here was the steady ticking of the clock behind her. The desk didn't hold any papers or books. Just a computer. But when Emma got a closer look she noticed a little sticky note stuck to the side of the computer.

_Belle._

"Miss Swan." a man's voice startled her out of her thoughts a little. She looked up at Moe French, who was walking out of his office to greet her.

"Hello Mr French." she smiled.

"Can I help you with anything."

Emma paused for a moment, trying to put her thoughts into words. She wasn't exactly sure how she was going to ask him this.

"Yes. Do you mind if I asked you a few questions about your daughter?"

Moe was silent for a moment, but answered with a weak smile.

"Of course. What is it you need to know?"

"I want to ask about her time in the psychiatric hospital."

Moe seemed a little shocked to hear Emma bring the subject up, and answered sadly.

"I will tell you, but may I ask why you need to know this?"

"Just doing a little research for something. And it would really help if you told me a bit about your daughters health." She said with a sympathetic smile.

Moe sighed and after a few moments he nodded, gesturing for her to follow him into his office.

"A couple of years ago, Belle was a normal, happy young woman. She was like any other daughter, loving, kind, never treated anyone badly. Except, she was a little funny around this one man: Mr Gold."

Emma leaned forward in her seat opposite Moe French's desk in his office. It was quite a small room, with a computer and some papers. But there were no pictures of friends or family on his desk. As far as Emma knew, most people kept pictures of their loves ones. Maybe he's just a little different.

"She was a little _funny _around him?" Moe nodded.

"They never spoke, they hadn't even met. Until one day I was with Belle in the supermarket. I remember this day well. It was her mother's birthday. My wife. We always buy her a card and sign it just to keep the memory of her alive." His gaze had slowly drifted away from Emma and his eyes became sad and distant, "We bumped into Mr Gold. Both him and my daughter seemed a little strange around each other. I made little small talk with him, but he didn't seem like he was listening, and Belle hadn't said a word to him. Which was very unusual. My Belle likes to talk to everyone." He smiled a little before continuing, "Then she started whispering things about beasts and chipped cups," his smile faded, "and that's when the screaming started."  
Emma stayed silent, patiently letting him continue. "She melted down right there in the middle of the aisle. She was screaming and crying and shouting strange things to Mr Gold about true love and curses. It broke my heart, to watch my poor little Belle screaming so angrily. I'd never seen her like this before."

Emma could see Moe was trying desperately hard to fight back the tears in his eyes, but he carried on. "Later on I asked her what it was all about. She had no idea what I was talking about. I guessed this was just her way of saying she didn't want to talk about it. But the next day Mr Gold came over to apologise to Belle about anything that he had done to upset her. And the same thing happened again. She screamed and cried, and ranted on and on about magic and true love…this wasn't my Belle. And again she had no idea what I was talking about when I asked her why she kept doing this. She was such a happy person. Except around him."

"So what did you do?" Emma finally spoke up.

"The mayor started to notice. It happened on more than one occasion. Every time they saw each other the same thing would happen, and she claimed she never remembered it. One day Regina came to me and advised that she spend a little time in the psychiatric hospital, that it might help a little. At first I declined, but Belle got worse. And I thought that putting her in there could help her. She might become my daughter again."

"So you did." Moe nodded.

"For three years. And when I finally decided to let her out, I wanted her to take sessions with Doctor Hopper. I don't even think she remembers them. He advised that she try and stay away from Mr Gold until they know she has completely recovered. If they meet again before she is fully recovered, she could start all over again and she'll probably have to stay in that hospital for a long long time. So I made sure she never went near him, never spoke to him. And she doesn't even know why. She doesn't remember."

There was a long silence before Emma spoke.

"Do you know where she is now?" Moe seemed a little surprised that that's what Emma was asking, after all he'd just told her.

"Yes, she's having lunch with Ruby. Why?"

"When did she leave?" Moe looked at his watch.

"About ten minutes ago. _Why?" _he repeated.

"I was at the café talking to Ruby about two minutes ago. Your daughter wasn't there."

* * *

"I should probably leave soon." Belle placed the cup of tea on the table in front of her. She was sitting by Rumplestiltskin's desk while she watched him stir his tea continuously. Not once had he actually drunk from it. Belle was a little worried. "Are you alright?" she rested her hand on his, which seemed to help him out of his daze.

"Hm? Oh, yes, of course. You were saying?" he carried on stirring.

"You don't seem alright." she frowned, glancing at the tea his was stirring. He seemed to get the message and stopped.

"Oh. Sorry." he pushed the cup away.

"What's wrong?"

Rumplestiltskin looked up at Belle and frowned a little.

"You don't remember?"

She smiled and almost laughed.

"What do you mean? Of course I do."

"You remember about, before?" Belle shook her head and smiled again. What was he going on about?

"Yes, of course. Why else do you think I'm here? I remember you, Rumplestiltskin. I remember our deal, I remember your castle and I remember our kiss." Rumplestiltskin looked down, avoiding eye contact with Belle.

"Of course, you remember _that._" she stopped smiling.

"What are you going on about?" she didn't like the way he wasn't being straight with her.

"Have we met in this land before?" Belle was silent for a moment and then shook her head.

"No." she said surely. When Rumplestiltskin didn't reply she placed her other hand on his. "Why? What's the matter? Tell me."  
He sighed, seeming unsure whether to tell her or not.

"Belle, before today, you and I have-"

The sound of the bell quickly silenced him.

"Gold?" Emma's voice rang through the shop. Rumplestiltskin put his finger to his lips, telling Belle to keep quiet.

"Gold?!" Moe French's voice repeated, sounding angry and dangerous. Belle's eyes widened with terror, and Rumplestiltskin gently squeezed down on her hands, telling her everything will be alright.

"What's he doing here?" she whispered. Rumplestiltskin only replied by putting his finger to his lips again and standing, heading for the door that separated his office from the shop. Belle stood up, but didn't move from her spot. She tried to calm herself. _It's ok, it's ok. As long as he doesn't come back here it's ok._

"Miss Swan, Mr French. Can I help you with anything?" Belle stood still, listening to their conversation.

"Do you remember Miss French? The town's librarian?" Emma asked casually.

"I do." Rumplestiltskin replied simply. _What does he mean he remembers me? We've never met in this land before. _Belle thought to herself.

"Have you seen her today?"

"I have not." he replied a little uncomfortably. He was losing it a little.

"Don't lie to me, Mr Gold." she glared at him, but he didn't reply. Then she held up a piece of paper. "I have a search warrant." and without explaining any furthur, she pushed pass Rumplestiltskin and into his office.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks for all the reviews, favourites and followers guys! You're really helping me continue the story with your reviews :D  
And just to make it a little clearer: Skin Deep did happen, but not in Storybrooke. So Mr Gold didn't beat Moe and he never got arressted. But there is some hate between them. **

**Sorry about slow updating, I just don't want to write my chapters rushed and it not turn out well. **

**Anyway, hope you enjoy!**

Emma practically stormed into Mr Gold's office. She hated it when someone hid something from her. But she loved it when she caught them out. She knew Mr Gold was lying. Emma used her 'superpower' all the time around people. And it's not that she was trying to be the bad guy and catch Miss French out. But if this woman was still a little mentally unstable, then she had to try and help.

The room was empty.

Emma felt as if someone had kicked her right in the gut. She knew Mr Gold was lying. He had seen her today. And whether it was in his office or on the other side of Storybrooke, she was going to find out.

"Miss Swan?" the sound of Mr Gold's voice sounding so calm and what seemed like a little amused, angered Emma. She whipped her head round in his direction, where he was standing at the entrance of his office. "Did you find what you're looking for?" he smiled. He actually smiled. Emma scowled at his words.

"Not yet." She pushed past him, back into the shop where Moe French was still standing, "But I will." Then she turned back round to the pawnbroker, "Mr Gold, I do care about this girl. I want to help."

Rumplestiltskin leaned forward on his counter, lowering his voice, "And how are you planning on doing that?"

"For starters, getting her away from you, seeing as you're the one that's causing her problems."

"You know nothing." Rumplestiltskin spat.

"Really? Mr French told me everything."

"He doesn't know the half of it."

"Do you have some sort of problem with the French family? You sure do have a way of angering them."  
Rumplestiltskin shot a quick side glance at Moe. Truth be told he never really did like the man. There was just something about him.  
Emma continued to talk, "You remember her, right? You remember how she acted towards you. You knew you were the only one that made her do that."

"Don't worry, sheriff. I remember that far too well. It's not exactly the type of thing you forget." he said with a sad smile.

"Well then you should know that she needs help. If you see her and she goes back to her old ways, then you need to inform someone. I'm only trying to help her." She added slowly. Rumplestiltskin didn't reply. He wanted her out of his shop, along with Moe. He needed to talk to Belle. She didn't remember meeting him before and acting like she did towards him. His poor Belle. The curse hadn't worked properly on her. Instead of it making her forget, it made her insane. But only towards him. Only towards the person she loves the most. And then she would forget it had ever happened.

That was Belle's curse.

Luckily Jiminy Cricket, well, Dr Hopper, had managed to help her. But that was probably just temporary. Her curse wasn't actually broken. They'd have to wait for Emma to lift it. How long would it take for her to go back to how she used to be? That's why Rumplestiltskin had been so surprised to see Belle enter his shop without screaming. Her insanity had gone and she could think clearly, remember her past. But that wasn't going to last too long.

"I'll be sure to call. You can go now." Rumplestiltskin said quietly. And thankfully, she left. Then he turned his head to Moe, who hadn't said a word since he'd called for the pawnbroker.

"Don't keep anything from me about my daughter." he warned.  
Rumplestiltskin didn't reply. He wanted Moe out of his shop. He needed to find Belle and talk to her. Hopefully she'd return soon. Thank God she managed to get away in time. That would've not looked good if Emma had found her.

Moe turned and left. Slamming the door behind him.

* * *

The moment Belle heard Emma mention the search warrant, she knew she had to get out quickly. She was going to be searching the store. For her? Were they searching for her? No, they couldn't be. Well, whatever she was looking for, Belle had to get out of that office before her father saw her. And her first thought was to go to Ruby. So she quickly headed for Granny's café.

When she had arrived Ruby came to the door straight away and demanded why she hadn't seen her at lunch yesterday or today.

"Sorry," Belle apologised, "I've been busy."

"Doing what?"

"Just…catching up on a few things." She couldn't help smile. But Ruby only shrugged.

"Well, I haven't seen you for a day. Come sit." She walked behind the counter and started to dry a glass. Belle took a seat opposite her and fiddled with straw. Ruby looked over at her friend and frowned.

"What's wrong?" Belle looked up.

"Hm? Nothing."

"Belle…" Belle sighed, knowing that Ruby could tell when something was wrong. And when that happened, you were going to end up telling her.

"Come on, Ruby. Can't you just let this one slide?"

"No." she said, smiling. Belle shook her head. Even if she did end up telling her, which she wasn't going to, she could trust Ruby to keep it a secret. "What's the matter, Belle?" she sighed again.

"Let's just say that I'm keeping something from my father, and if he finds out about it, I'm dead."

"And you're planning on telling me what it is?"

"No." she said, smiling, mocking her friend. Ruby put the glass down with a thump.

"Ok, that wasn't a question. That's an order." She said with a grin. "Tell me."

"Ruby…"

"I can help." She said eagerly.

"Not really."

"Come on, why can't you just tell me?" she moaned, sounding like a little kid. Belle laughed a little.

"I can't. Why do you need to know so much anyway? Besides, even if I did tell you, you'd think I've gone crazy."

Ruby was silent for a moment. That last word had made her think back. She too knew about Belle's reoccurring incident with Mr Gold. Everyone knew. Except Belle herself. But she wasn't going to give up. She was too curious to. She really liked Belle and she wanted to help her.

"I don't care. Even if I do think you're crazy, it doesn't mean I can't help." Belle gave in.

"Fine. You want me to tell you?" Ruby leant forward on the counter eagerly.

"Yes."

Belle moved her head closer and brought her voice to a whisper.

"I kissed Mr Gold."

Ruby shot up from the counter.

"You what?!"


	6. Chapter 6

"Shut up!" Belle warned through clenched teeth. Ruby's comment had been loud enough to make everyone in the café look up from their tables and stare at the two girls.

Ruby stepped out from behind the counter to Belle and grabbed her by the wrist, dragging her into a door marked 'employees only.' The look on her friends face frightened her. She looked partly shocked, and partly like she was about to explode and tell everyone in the café.

Maybe telling her wasn't such a good idea.

When Ruby had finally dragged her into the staff toilets, still holding her wrist, she exploded,

"Why would you do that?!"

"Excuse me?" Belle seemed shocked that her best friend was reacting like this.

"You can't just go round doing things like that!" she hissed.

"Ruby, it's my life. I can do whatever I want! And let go of me!" she wriggled her arm from Ruby's grip and she let go.

"You can't have kissed Mr Gold!" she continued.

Belle was disappointed in Ruby. She thought she'd be a little more supportive. Not screaming at her and telling her what to do.

"Well I did. Why is that so hard for you to believe?" Ruby didn't reply. If Belle had kissed Mr Gold, then does that mean she's fully recovered? Since she remembers being around him. "I thought you'd react differently, Ruby." She said disappointedly.

"I'm sorry." she lowered her voice from shouting, "You just, took me by surprise, that's all. It wasn't exactly the type of thing I was expecting to hear."

"You know you can't tell anyone."

"Yeah..." she started.

"Ruby!" Belle snapped.

"Yes, yes, okay! I won't tell anyone."

Belle looked her carefully in the eye.

"Promise?" she asked.

Ruby's silent hesitation was a little longer than Belle could stand.

"_Promise?"_ she repeated, with more force.

Ruby sighed, and nodded. "I promise."

"Good. If my father finds out about this I'll never be let out of that library again." Belle said, running her hand through her hair, feeling a little stressed now.  
Ruby looked carefully at her before asking,

"Do you actually know _why_ your father doesn't let you see him?"

Belle looked at Ruby in confusion. She hadn't told anyone (besides Rumplestiltskin) that her father forbid her from seeing him.

"How do you know that I'm not allowed to see him?" she asked curiously. Then Ruby suddenly realised what she had just said and opened her eyed wide.

"I, your, your father told me." she stuttered quickly, clearly lying. Belle peered at her, and after a few moments she said,

"Do you know something I don't?"

Ruby took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. "When was the first time you talked to Mr Gold?"

"Yesterday." She said immediately, "Why?"

Ruby's brow creased with sympathy as she shook her head. "That wasn't the first time you've met him."

Belle almost laughed. "What are you talking about?" she smiled. Was this some type of a joke? Or... does Ruby remember too?

"Don't you remember _anything?" _she spoke barely above a whisper.

Belle was almost too afraid to say it. Did Ruby remember? Remember about their other world? "Are you talking about…the curse?" she finished in a whisper. Then Ruby took a step forward and hugged her.

_She remembers!_

"Oh Belle. You're not fully recovered, are you?" Then Belle immediately pulled away from her friend.

"_What?_" Seriously, what was going on?

Ruby held Belle's arms and looked sadly at her.

"You're still recovering from your psychological problems, aren't you?"

"_Excuse me?!_"

* * *

"Rumplestiltskin!" Belle stormed into the pawnshop where Rumplestiltskin was waiting behind his counter.

"Belle! You should've come round the back. Look, I need to talk to you-"

"Why didn't you tell me?!" she yelled angrily, walking up to the counter. Rumplestiltskin looked shocked.

"Tell you what?" he tried speaking calmly, but it came out sounding a little stressed.

"You knew this whole time that I was still recovering from '_psychological problems_,'" she mocked with a strange accent that didn't suit her, "and you didn't tell me?! You thought you could just let me walk around, hiding our relationship from people and not actually know the real reason why? Everyone knows about my problem! _Everyone! _Except me. Why, Rumplestiltskin? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was going to tell you, I just didn't know how." He said softly, trying to calm her down, but she was far from calm.

"So you were going to sit there and try and figure out _how_ you were going to tell me, after I find out from Ruby?" she yelled, standing a few steps away from the counter Rumplestiltskin was behind.

"Ruby told you?" he said, sounding surprised.

"She told me everything. I screamed at you, said things about the curse, about our other lives and, I don't remember any of it!" she tried hard to fight back the tears that prickled her eyes. But she couldn't. "Why don't I remember, Rumplestiltskin?" Her voice cracked as a few tears rolled down her cheeks.

Rumplestiltskin stepped out from behind the counter and with a pained look on his face. He didn't like to see his Belle cry. Every tear that escaped her eye sent a sharp pain through his heart.

He took a step towards Belle and hugged her, one hand behind her back and the other on her head, stroking her hair as she buried her face into his chest.

"No Belle, don't cry. Please. It's just part of your curse." He kissed her forehead and held her tight. Belle lifted her head from his chest and looked into Rumplestiltskin's eyes, her own a little red from crying.

"_My _curse?" she asked.

Rumplestiltskin nodded sadly. "You have your own curse. The curse made everyone forget their true lives. You remember your life, but the curse made you a little…insane." He finished slowly.

"_Insane?_" Belle didn't particularly like that term.

"What you don't remember is _being _insane."

Belle was almost too afraid to ask, "Will I go back to... being insane?"

Rumplestiltskin was silent for a moment, but he wasn't going to lie, "Probably."

"How much longer?"

"I don't know. I'm sorry."

This time Belle managed to keep her tears back by shutting her eyes tightly and burying her head in Rumplestiltskin's chest again.

After a few moments she spoke, keeping her head rested Rumplestiltskin, "Did I hurt you?"

He lifted his head to look at Belle. "What?" he said, surprised. Her voice was a little muffled and he wasn't sure if he heard her right. So she lifted her head up and looked at him.

"Did I hurt you?" she repeated, sounding a little scared.

"Of course not!" he said, almost laughing. Even if Belle had tried to hurt him, he would've let her. He deserved it after all.

"Good." A few moments passed before Rumplestiltskin spoke up.

"You should probably go. Emma and your father were here. I think they're suspicious. It might be a good idea if you didn't come here tomorrow." He let go and took her hand.

Belle started to shake her head, "But I want to be with you-"

"Belle, you have to." He gently squeezed her hand, "Can you do it for me? Can you do it for us?" Belle wiped away the last of her tears on her cheeks. When she finished she took a deep breath and nodded. "Thank you." Rumplestiltskin whispered.

Belle started to walk towards the door when she stopped, "When can I next see you again?"

Rumplestiltskin shook his head sadly. He was going to have to answer this honestly.

"I don't know." He said quietly.

Belle didn't protest. She knew she was going to have to make some sacrifices if she wanted to have her happy ever after. So all she did was nod before turning and leaving.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey there! Again, sorry for slow updates. Bare with me though. These two will eventually have their happy ending. But they need to sacrifice things in order to stay together.  
Thanks again for reviews and favouriting my story! **

_She saw her yelling at the pawnbroker. Screaming things at him. She couldn't hear what, but she was screaming alright. This meant she wasn't cured. She hadn't fully recovered. She would have to go back. Yes, Belle French would have to go back to the psychiatric hospital. _

Regina grinned wickedly. She had her now.

* * *

Rumplestiltskin had just finished locking up his shop when he walked into Granny's café. The last he'd seen of Belle was when she left his shop earlier. And he wasn't sure when he would see her next. This wasn't going well. This wasn't the type of reunion he was hoping for.

Rumplestiltskin flung the café door open. "Ruby?" he called.

"Mr Gold, we're closed-"

"Why did you tell her?" Rumplestiltskin demanded. Ruby only blinked.

"Excuse me?"

"Don't act, answer my question!" his grip tightened a little on his cane, and Ruby crossed her arms.

"She deserves to know. Besides, I thought she knew anyway. Why would anyone keep something like that from her?"

Rumplestiltskin began to get angry. _Because it'll crush her to find out something like that._

"No, she didn't know. And now she can't handle that kind of information!"

"Hey, calm down. Look, I'm sorry if I upset her, but she was going to find out sometime anyway."

"Not like this!"

Then Ruby's eyes widened.

"_You_ wanted to tell her, didn't you?" she breathed. His silence was enough for an answer, "She wasn't making it up. You guys _kissed?_" she sounded almost disgusted.

"She _told_ you?" Rumplestiltskin said, sounding shocked. _Why would she tell Ruby something like that? _But he wasn't going to deny it. If he did it would only make Belle seem more insane. And there was no way he was going to let people think that.

"She also mentioned the curse again." Rumplestiltskin's head shot up. _Oh no. Please, no. _This wasn't helping her situation at all.  
He dipped his head, feeling stressed.

"Why did you kiss her?" Ruby demanded, with a look of disgust on her face.

Rumplestiltskin sighed deeply, "I don't have to tell you that. But trust me, she's getting better. She's fine."

Ruby shook her head, "I'm not so sure-"

"She's fine!" he repeated with a snap. "You can't tell anyone about this. No one can know about what happened between us."

"Why is this so important to you, Mr Gold? Something isn't right between you two."

"That's not your problem, Ruby. Just don't tell her anything else. She can barely handle this as it is." Ruby rested her hands on her hips. She didn't seem impressed with Mr Gold trying to cover for Belle. He knew just as well as she that Belle had to be treated carefully. He shouldn't be doing things like kissing her if he wanted to help her. What was going through Mr Gold's mind?

"I still don't think this is right." She said, shaking her head.

Rumplestiltskin didn't seem to care what Ruby thought. She had told Belle and it had crushed her to find out. He was getting more irritated the more she went on about how he wasn't treated Belle right. He could treat her just fine. The curse _will _break, and Belle _will _go back to normal. She will be happy again.

"Well I don't care what you think," he snarled, "You keep your mouth _shut _and stay away from Belle."

Ruby didn't reply straight away. She simply turned around and headed into the 'employees only' door, reminding him once again that the shop was closed. So he turned and left.

* * *

Belle got back to her apartment and sat down on the sofa. She thought about what had happened in the last hour, and when she did, rested her elbows on her knees and buried her face in her hands.

_What's happening to me? _

She couldn't understand. She had a different curse to everyone else? Why? Was the queen using her against Rumplestiltskin? Probably. Those two have hated each other for years. Regina would've wanted to see Rumplestiltskin suffer. Belle's curse pained him. She knew he hated to see her like this.

Belle tried desperately hard to try and remember what she was like before.  
She had met Rumplestiltskin before? She shook her head. She didn't remember.  
She screamed and cried whenever she saw him? She didn't remember that either.  
She had taken sessions with Dr Hopper? She didn't even remember _that_.  
Is there anything else she didn't remember?

Tears started to fall from her eyes without even realising. Why is this all so messed up? Why couldn't they just be together? Even after the curse is broken. Will they still have to fight to stay with one another?

Belle lay down on the sofa and closed her eyes, remembering the days when she was truly happy. When she fell from the ladder into Rumplestiltskin's arms. When she managed to talk to the man within the beast. When she came back from the town and kissed him.  
She pressed the palms of her hands on her eyes. She didn't want to remember what happened after that. That kiss was the last of her happy moments in that world. After that it was just heartbreak and sadness.

Belle lay there for a few minutes, before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Emma sat in Granny's café, sipping her hot coco with cinnamon, and started to think.  
She thought about Miss French. She thought about Mr Gold. She thought about what Henry had told her about them. That 'they kissed.' She didn't think twice about him also mentioning that they both remember that they're fairytale characters. That meant nothing.

Mr Gold was hiding something. Something that involved Miss French. And Emma wasn't exactly sure what. Maybe Henry was right. Maybe they were secretly seeing each other. But that's stupid. As far as Miss French knows, the two of them haven't even met. Even if they had seen each other, why would they be kissing on their first meeting?

Emma quickly tried to shake the image of the two kissing from her mind. It was too weird.  
Then she realised she hadn't even talked to the librarian since she found out about her. She _had _to talk to her.

Ruby walked over just as she finished her drink, "Hey. You alright?" she asked, taking the cup and placing it on a tray.

"Not really. Just thinking about something that's bugging me." Emma replied, frowning.

"Well, if there's any way I can help…" Ruby suggested.

"Actually," Emma looked up at her, "you can. Do you know anything about Belle French?" she asked.

Ruby went silent. She was thinking. Emma could see it on her face. "Ruby?"

"I do." she nodded slowly.

"Well, do you think you could tell me?"

"You know about her problem, right?" she asked, lowering her voice a little.

Emma nodded, "Her father told me."

"I'm watching over her. She's my friend and I'm making sure she's doing alright."

"Well, is there anything important you could tell me about her? Like, what does she talk about? Has she been acting strange lately?"

Ruby bit her lip. She wanted to protect her friend, but that meant being honest about her with people. "Ruby? Has she been acting strange?" she asked again, picking up on her hesitation.

"She might have said one or two things…" she said slowly.

"Well, can you tell me?" Emma asked, but it sounded more like a command to Ruby.

"I don't…"

"Ruby, what did she say? Remember, I can't do anything to her if you tell me." She had a point. Emma might be sheriff but she has no control over who goes in and out of that hospital. Then again, just because she's sheriff it doesn't mean she _has _to tell her anything.

"She's my friend. I don't have to tell you anything that happened between us."

Emma smirked, "Actually, you do. This is now one of my cases, and if you are a witness to some important information I need, then you have to tell me. Otherwise I can arrest you for obstruction of justice." _Damn it!_ "Now tell me."

Ruby hesitated. Like Emma said, even if she does tell her anything, it's not like she can chuck her back into that hospital. She was just giving her a little information.

"Well, two days ago, she didn't turn up for lunch with me, which is always a regular thing. Then when she did turn up yesterday she told me she had been busy catching up on things. That's not at all like her. She doesn't know many people."

"Did she mention anyone?"

Ruby slowly nodded, "She mentioned, Mr Gold."

"_Mr Gold?"_ she knew it. Something wasn't right about those two, "What did she say about him?"

"She mentioned a curse, she's done so before." Ruby said, purposely ignoring the question and talking about something that would catch Emma's attention. And it worked. For a couple of seconds.

"The curse?" Emma shook her head, "What did she say about Mr Gold?"

Ruby bit her lip again. When she took too long to reply Emma raised her eyebrows, and she sighed.

"She said she kissed him."

* * *

She awoke with the sound of someone knocking at her door.  
Belle looked at the clock on the table next to her: _10:17pm_

_I took a nine hour long nap?!_

Belle quickly woke herself up and hurried to the door.

And she looked down.

"Henry?"

"Hey Miss French." The 10-year old smiled at the slightly confused librarian.

"What are you doing here? It's ten o'clock at night. Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"I snuck out." He said casually. It was a normal thing for him anyway.

"You _snuck _out?" Belle sounded shocked. She'd never known the kid to sneak out before. Obviously she doesn't know much about him. Which she honestly didn't.

"I need to talk to you about something," he said, ignoring her question and walking into the apartment, "Emma's starting to ask questions about you round town."

"What?" Belle suddenly felt sick to the stomach.

"She talked to Mr Gold about you."

Belle closed the door and whipped her head round, "_What?!" _she repeated, her voice cracking a little. "Henry, do you know about my… my problem?" she asked slowly. Belle didn't like to think of it like this, she didn't like the fact that so many people knew.

"You mean your curse? Yeah, I know about it."

"Is that why she went straight to him? Since Rumpl-Mr Gold is the cause of it?"

"You can call him Rumplestiltskin round me," he smiled, "I know you're not really crazy."

Belle forced a weak smile, "Thanks." She said half-heartedly.

"Yes, that's why she went to him. But...there might be another reason why she went to talk to him." Henry said slowly.

Belle peered at him, "Henry...?"

"I kind of, accidently told Emma you two believe."

"_Henry-_"

"And that you kissed."

"_Henry!"_ Belle yelled, covering her face with her hands and running them through her hair. This was so bad. She knelt down in front of him, "You promised."

"I know, I know, I'm sorry, it just sort of came out. Emma wasn't listening to me and I guess I wasn't thinking properly."

Belle got up and paced around the room, biting her nails. Now what was Emma going to think? Too many people knew, Henry, Emma, well, at least she can trust Ruby to keep it a secret.

How long until this news got to her father? Maybe no one would believe it anyway. It's not like anyone's actually _seen _them together. Except Henry. That kid needs to learn to keep his mouth shut.

"Henry, you need to get home." She said, walking towards the door, "Your mother will kill me if she knew you were here." Belle opened the door. She wouldn't be surprised if Regina actually did.

"Well, just be careful. Emma's watching you. She's not exactly trying to get rid of you. She just wants to find out about you. I don't think you want that." He said, walking out the door.

Belle sighed, shaking her head. "Thanks for warning me, Henry."

The 10-year-old smiled, "That's okay. You remember. That means you're more of a target."

"Great." She said sarcastically. It was nice that the kid was looking out for her, but at the same time she wished he didn't know about her and Rumplestiltskin.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow Miss French." He started to walk off before Belle called after him,

"Henry," he turned around, "call me Belle."

Henry grinned before running off.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey there! Here's chapter 8!**

Rumplestiltskin watched Belle walk up to her library and open it up. And how much it pained him. To know that Belle was just across the street and he couldn't even go to say hello to her. He began to regret ever making the curse. It was driving both him and his poor Belle mad. Rumplestiltskin was tempted to somehow find a way in forcing Emma to break the curse. He knew that wouldn't work, but he didn't care. Right now he was willing to do anything just so they could be together again. But he wasn't sure how long that would be. Until they could see each other again. To be on the safe side, they would have to wait until the curse broke. But love has no safe side. There was no way Rumplestiltskin was going to be waiting that long. Emma wasn't going to believe any time soon. _What am I going to do?_

Belle opened up the library, threw the keys on the desk and sighed. She knew Rumplestiltskin had been watching her. She could just feel it. But she couldn't look at him. Besides the fact that anyone could catch them exchanging looks since the street was pretty busy, Belle couldn't bare to look at him because she was afraid that if she did, she would break down in tears. It was too painful to think that she'd never know when they'd next be together again. _If _they'll ever be together again.  
Belle quickly busied herself with work before she began to cry. She went over to the shelves to rearrange some of the books. Her father wouldn't be in the library for at least another hour. He'd be sorting out business around the town.

Belle wasn't exactly sure how long she'd been wandering round the bookshelves before she heard the door open, followed by a voice,

"Miss French?" it was Emma. _Oh God, what did she want?_ Belle stepped out from one of the shelves and smiled kindly,

"Hi Emma. Can I help you with anything?"

"Yeah, do you think you could, tell me anything you know about Mr Gold?" she asked kindly, not exactly how Belle had imagined she'd be questioned.

She sighed, "I know about my problem, Emma."

She seemed a little surprised, "You do?" Belle nodded,

"I don't remember anything about him back then." She said slowly, purposely talking about him before, not now.

"And what about now?" _Damn it! _It's like she could read her mind. Belle didn't reply straight away, she didn't know how. And that was a good enough answer for Emma. "You remember meeting him recently, don't you?" she smiled, knowing that she was winning.

"I don't have to tell you anything that's happened between us."

"And I've heard from two little birdies that you guys kissed." She said, crossing her arms, loving the fact that she was actually getting somewhere. She could see by the look on Belle's face that this was all true. But she started to feel sick to the stomach.

"Henry and Ruby." She whispered. After a long moment of terrifying silence, Belle whispered again, it barely coming out audible from the sudden lump in her throat, "Please don't lock me away."

It was only then that Emma truly realised how terrified this woman was. And she stopped smiling, replacing it with a sympathetic frown, "Oh, no I'm not going to do that. I can't anyway, it's not my decision. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you like that. I was just asking a few questions…"

"Well you sure scared the hell out of me." Belle croaked. She thought Emma was in charge of everything that goes on around town. Even having the power to lock her away. Obviously not then.

"Sorry." Emma apologised again.

"So, you know about us then?" Belle was almost too afraid to ask. Was Emma just here to stick her nose in their business? Well, she was here, and she knew. She may as well start begging on her knees not to tell anyone. But what was the point? She had told two people, made them both promise, and they still ended up telling Emma anyway.

"Yeah. Well, I haven't actually seen it for myself, but you've just admitted it."

Belle wasn't able to keep her eyes fixed on Emma's. Her gaze slowly drifted towards the ground. _What was going to happen now? _Is this the part where Emma tells her that she has no choice in telling her father? Where she tells her she will be locked up but it's for her own good?  
Belle just gave up on all hope.

"I won't tell anyone." Belle's head snapped up.

"What?"

"I won't. I promise." Belle shook her head,

"That's what they said."

"Henry and Ruby? I know, but that was kind of my fault. I forced it out of Ruby and Henry, I guess I just annoyed him by not believing another one of his stories, and he just came out with it."

Belle smiled half-heartedly and shook her head again, "But how do I know you'll keep this a secret? You barely know me, or trust me. Why should you care?"

She did have a point. But she didn't see anything wrong with this woman. Unless she saw something for herself, Belle was fine and she wasn't going to tell anyone, "I don't know. But whether you want to believe me or not, I'll keep my mouth shut. You're just going to have to trust me."

These words somehow did make Belle trust Emma a little. She had nothing to lose, she may as well have a little faith.

"Thank you." she said a little shyly. Belle just prayed that this time her secret would be kept.  
Emma nodded and left. Leaving Belle standing alone with her thoughts. Then quickly resuming to work when her father walked in.

* * *

Belle left for lunch with Ruby. Telling her about her talk with Emma, leaving Ruby apologising a million times after.

Back at the library, Moe was in his office when he heard a knock at his door.

"Yes?" The door opened immediately, revealing the strangely happy mayor. Moe scowled, "What do you want, Regina?"

The mayor put on a mocking frown, "Now that's not a very nice way to greet a friend, Mr French."

He scowled again, "We're not friends."

"I helped cure your daughter, didn't I?"

"You suggested putting her in that hospital. You did not cure her." Regina closed the door, "What do you want?" he repeated.

"Are you aware that your daughter was screaming at Mr Gold yesterday?"

"She what?" Regina took a seat on the other side of Moe's desk.

"Yes, I saw her screaming at the pawnbroker in his shop yesterday." Moe shook his head.

"You're lying."

"What makes you say that?"

"I won't believe anything you tell me until I see it for myself."

"That's very true, Mr French. But are you keeping a close eye on your daughter?" Moe became angry. Is there something Regina wanted him to do?

"Don't tell me how I should look after my own daughter!" Regina stayed calm.

"I'm not. I'm simply asking if you're aware of where she's going and what she's doing."

"I'm not a stalker, Regina. I do have my own business to attend to. But of course I look after her."

"And you're still not going to believe me?"

"No." he replied simply.

"And what would you say if I were to tell you that I strongly suggest you think about sending her back?"

"To the psychiatric hospital? I'd say get the hell out of my office until I see some actual proof for myself that she's not sane."

Regina rolled her eyes and stood up. "Suit yourself. I just thought I'd warn you. I care about her, you know."

Moe didn't reply straight away. She'd said that in the past and he still wasn't completely sure if she was lying or not. Yes, Regina had given him the idea to put her in that hospital, but it did help. He was willing to listen to Regina, but he wasn't going to take on any advice from her until he'd seen something himself.

"I'll keep an eye on her." He said quietly.

Regina smiled and then left.

* * *

_One month later._

Rumplestiltskin and Belle still hadn't talked to each other since they'd agreed that it'll be best from them not to. Obviously they'd seen each other round. But they kept their distance. Most people would still expect Belle to scream at him. So if one of them saw the other walking in one direction, they would have to take the other direction. It had gotten that bad.

Luckily Emma hadn't spoken of them to anyone. She hadn't even talked about it with Belle. In fact, no one really talked about them anymore. Belle never discussed it with Ruby, and she didn't see Henry enough for him to talk about it. It was almost as if it never happened. And Belle started to wonder if it ever did. Was this just part of her curse again? Making her think about things that never happened? But every time she looked at her name written on the note Rumplestiltskin had given her, she knew it was real.

One night before she locked up, Belle decided that she wanted to take a walk through the park back home. It was a beautiful night and the park was peaceful. She had no rush to get back home. She didn't really want to go home anyway. The park would be a nice detour.

Rumplestiltskin's leg was particularly hurting him today. No matter how many times he rubbed it, the sharp pain in his knee would not go away. Looks like he would have to take the shortcut home through the park so he could walk less.

Belle noticed that nobody was in the park. It was nice. A peaceful walk back home. She needed that. She only noticed about two minutes into her walk that there was someone else walking in front of her. They were about fifty meters apart, and it was dark, so Belle couldn't even see who it was. Until she saw the cane under one of the street lamps. Is it…? Even if it was she couldn't go up to him. That is, until she saw him fall to the ground.

_Rumplestiltskin! _

Belle immediately ran towards him to see if he was alright. When she got up to him she knelt on the ground beside him.

"Belle?" he breathed.

She didn't meet his eyes, she looked down at his leg, "What's the matter? Are you okay? Does your leg hurt?" she had a ton of questions she wanted to ask him, but right now she could only think of his safety. So much that she almost jumped when she felt Rumplestiltskin's finger on her chin, making her look into his eyes. And then his lips. Then she couldn't help bring her head closer and pressing her lips against his. Her worries and thoughts left her the minute their lips touched. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he pulled her in closer round the waist as they both kissed on the floor.  
She had to pull back when she began to cry, "I'm sorry…" she said, laughing a little through her tears.

"What's wrong?" He leaned his forehead against hers and caressed her cheek.

"I've just missed you so much."

"Oh, sweetheart, I've missed you too." He started to whip away the tears that rolled down her cheeks, feeling a little lump in his throat himself.

"I don't want to leave you again."

"I don't want to either, but Belle-" she started to shake her head,

"No! Please don't leave me! I hate being without you!" she sobbed. She hadn't realised how much she'd actually missed him until now.

Rumplestiltskin put his arm around her, held her tight, letting her know that he'd never let her go. He'd seem to have forgotten about the pain in his leg, it was replaced by the pain in his heart. The way Belle was begging him not to go, "Shh, don't worry, I won't leave."

Belle hugged him tighter, "You'll stay with me?" she whispered into his shoulder.

"I'll stay with you. Forever and always."

Belle smiled, knowing she was safe with him.

But then all the happiness vanished within a heartbeat when she spotted someone walking up to them. The air left her lungs and she could barely speak, "Rum-Rumple…"

"What's wrong, Belle?" he lifted his head up to see petrified look on her face. And this alone scared him too. Her eyes were looking behind him and were wide with fear.

Rumplestiltskin turned his head in the same direction and saw what had frightened her.

Moe French was walking up to them and he did not look happy. At all.

"Pa-Papa…" Belle stuttered as she looked up at her father.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" he roared.

Belle stood up, helping Rumplestiltskin up too, and tried to be brave, "Look Papa, I-"

"Don't try to defend him, Belle! I saw the two of you sucking each other's face!"

"_Papa!" _She was horrified at how her father was speaking to her.

"You come with me right now, young lady!" he yelled, grabbing Belle's hand, but she was quick to pull it away, and held onto Rumplestiltskin's.

"No! This is my decision! Why can't you just accept that?!"

"Because you're sick, Belle. You're not cured!"

"She's perfectly fine!" Rumplestiltskin stood in, standing a little in front of Belle to protect her.

"No she's not! No daughter of mine would do something like this of her own accord."

"I'm not crazy, Papa! I know what I'm doing." Moe shook his head in disbelief, "I am a grown woman. I can make my own choices." She said, lowering her voice. Both Rumplestiltskin and Belle stood tall and strong together, and weren't letting their guard down.

Moe looked at Rumplestiltskin disapprovingly, "And he's your choice?"

"Yes." Belle said simply.

"Why did you do this? You knew this was a dangerous thing to do." he said to Rumplestiltskin.

"Because I love her. It was a risk I was willing to take." Belle smiled at his words, but her father only scowled.

"And I love him too." Moe was silent, "Please just accept that."

He shook his head, "This isn't right."

"Well it's right to me. Whether you want to believe that or not."

Moe sighed and began to walk back. He wasn't going to leave this. Both him and Belle knew that. And Belle was scared out of her mind, worrying about what he was going to do.

"I'm not talking about this anymore." And he turned around and started walking.

"Papa…"

"It's okay, Belle." Rumplestiltskin reassured her, bringing her in closer, letting her know she was safe. But she shook her head.

"No it's not. My father doesn't truly love me. He doesn't really care."

"I'm sure that's not true."

"But he doesn't. He's never once told me he loved me."

"Sometimes love doesn't always have to be told. It can be shown."

"But I'm afraid. What can he do?"

"He can't do anything to hurt you, Belle." But even as he was saying it, Rumplestiltskin wasn't completely sure if that was true. He didn't really know what the man was capable of. And what he was willing to do. But he didn't want Belle worrying about that. He just wanted them both to enjoy that fact that they were together again, and now they didn't have to hide from her father, "Come on. I'll walk you back home."

Belle looked up at him and smiled, "Thank you." He took her hand and they walked back home in peaceful silence.

When they got back to her apartment Belle invited Rumplestiltskin in.

"Are you sure?" Rumplestiltskin asked, a little wary of what she was asking him.

"Of course. There's not much we need to hide anymore, is there? And besides, you promised, remember?"

Rumplestiltskin did remember. He told her he'd stay with her. And he was going to keep that promise. So he stepped in the apartment.

"I remember." The he winced a little as his knee began to hurt again.

"Your leg! Here, lie down." She brought him over to the sofa.

"I'm fine, Belle." But she made him sit anyway.

"No you're not." She wiggled her finger, "Put your leg up." He sighed but obeyed, "You need to rest."

"Well then will you rest with me?" he grinned. Belle smiled back and lay next to him. She rested her head on his chest and he put his arm around her, "You don't have to worry. I'll always be with you." Belle smiled,

"Forever and always?"

Rumplestiltskin's fingers entwined with Belle's, and he put his mouth to her ear and whispered,

"Forever and always."

And within and few minutes the two of them drifted off to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

"Hello, Mr French. So nice of you to knock before you entered my office." Regina said sarcastically, not looking up from the papers on her desk.

"You were right." Moe said a little quietly, almost a little embarrassed to admit it.

"Oh?" she asked looking up, suddenly interested, "Right about what?" though she knew exactly what he was talking about. Moe walked up to her desk and made sure Regina was paying attention to him.

"My daughter, Belle, I saw her kissing Mr Gold in the park."

"I never said I saw her kissing him." Regina remarked with an evil grin.

"They were kissing and that's enough to show me that she's not well."

"You don't think she's well?" Moe ignored her question.

"And you weren't lying to me about her screaming at him earlier?"

"Of course not. Would I lie to you?"

He ignored her question again, "That's not her. That's not my daughter."

"What are you suggesting, Mr French?"

"She's not cured." Regina raised her eyebrows, knowing there was more, "And…I want her put back in the hospital."

Regina's grin was wicked, "As I thought."

* * *

Belle woke up to find Rumplestiltskin staring out the window, still lying down next to her. She looked up at him from where her head was resting on his chest.

"Good morning." She smiled. Rumplestiltskin quickly looked down, a little surprised to see Belle already awake. But he smiled back,

"Good morning. Sleep well?" his voice hummed in his chest against her ear, soothing her almost to sleep again.

"Wonderful. What about you? How's your leg?" Belle had been careful not to lean against Rumplestiltskin's leg, and some point in the night had put some cushions under his leg to support it.

"Much better. Although I can look after myself you know." Rumplestiltskin said with a smile, looking at the cushions under his leg. Belle looked to his leg and back up at him.

"I know. But I can look after you too. Now, I'm going to make us breakfast." Belle got up and was soon followed by Rumplestiltskin, "What, are you planning on helping me?" she asked, stepping into the kitchen.

"Just making sure you don't burn the apartment down."

"You mean you're going to watch me?"

"Or I could just leave you alone to make the breakfast in silence." He smirked. Belle only smiled and shook her head, starting to open drawers and cupboards.

Then there was a knock at the door.

"Stay here. Just in case." Belle said quickly before leaving the kitchen to answer the door. But Rumplestiltskin got up anyway and followed carefully behind. Belle opened the door so that neither he or the person on the other side could see each other.

"Miss French?" the unfamiliar voice asked.

"Yes?" The next moment happened so quickly, Rumplestiltskin barely had time to register it. Belle was immediately forced into the hallway by two men. Rumplestiltskin automatically rushed after her as she was trying desperately to get away from the men, "What are you doing?! Let me go!" then she stopped fighting as she spotted someone at the end of the hallway, "Papa?"

"Belle!" she quickly turned her head round at the sound of Rumplestiltskin's voice, "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" he shouted as a man came up to him, blocking his path, "Let me through! You can't take her!"

"Actually, we can." The man was quite tall, and dressed exactly as all the others. In white t-shirts and white trousers. This meant they were doctors. Which meant Belle was being sent back to the hospital.

"Rumplestiltskin!" Belle cried.

And the sudden realisation that this was all happening hit Rumplestiltskin in the gut, and without thinking, raised his cane and smashed it down on to the doctors head, knocking him unconscious. Belle was now being forced down the stairs and out the door. Rumplestiltskin rushed after her as quick as his lame leg would let him.

"Belle!" By the time he got outside, Belle was being pushed into the back of a van, and no matter how hard she was trying, the men wouldn't let her go. She tried kicking the them, but it didn't seem to have any effect.

"Rumple-" she was cut off by the doors shutting. And the last Rumplestiltskin saw of her was the terrified look in her eyes. The van quickly drove off, and there was no way he would be able to catch up. His grip tightened on his cane until his knuckles were a ghostly white. He had lost her _again! _But he was going to get her back. And whoever did this was going to pay with their life.

Then Moe appeared from the building.

"It's for her own good, Mr Gold." He called. And Rumplestiltskin's blood boiled dangerously. He spun round to find Moe standing a few steps away.

"You're her _father!_ How could you do something like this to her?!"

"Because I love and care for her."

"This is _not_ what a father does to their own daughter to show that!"

"She's insane! I'm not having my daughter known as the woman who slept with the town's pawnbroker!"

"She's insane because she chose to be with me? Is that _really _what you're implying?"

"That's not _my _daughter." Rumplestiltskin took a step forward, raising his cane.

"You. Little. Bastard!" He used each word to hit Moe in the chest with the end of his cane, making him fall to the ground on the last blow. He raised his cane above his head, ready to beat the hell out of him, when he felt handcuffs round his wrist, "Miss Swan?"

"You're under arrest, for assaulting Mr French and knocking a doctor unconscious." Emma took his other hand and cuffed them together.

"What?"

"You heard me." she sighed.

"Did you see what they've done to her?!" he yelled, "They took her away, _he _called them!" Rumplestiltskin pointed to Moe, who was just getting up off the floor.

"I saw," Emma looked sympathetic, "but you know I can't do anything. And you know I have to arrest you." Rumplestiltskin looked at her with mixed emotions, "Sorry."

* * *

The two men pushed Belle into the small grey room. Exhausted from fighting and yelling, she stumbled and fell on the floor, wiping away the tears that landed on her cheeks. She forced herself to get up and be strong. But she was sad, and desperate, and confused. So she walked up to the door and started banging on it with her fists,

"Let me out!" she cried, "Let me out!" her vision blurred with more tears as they started to stream down her cheeks. "I want to go home!" The silent reply only made her sob harder. She rested her head against the door and then turned around, sliding down the wall until she was sitting on the ground. Belle buried her face in her hands.

This is it. She was never going to be with Rumplestiltskin again. She was never going to have her happy ending. Only her father could give permission to let her out. And that was never going to happen. Maybe even the mayor could too. But Regina was never going to do that. She would die here. Right in this room. Forever alone.

* * *

Rumplestiltskin sat on the bed in the jail cell and threw his cane on the floor in anger. This was all his fault. Belle had done nothing wrong. She was completely innocent. He should've stayed out of the way until the curse broke. Then neither of them would get hurt. But now they were both paying.

* * *

Belle sat on the floor, staring blankly at the wall in front of her. Trying to clear her mind. Not thinking about anything. Waiting for her fate. Preparing herself for the long days, weeks, months, probably even years ahead. Maybe she could escape? If the nurses came in to give her medication or something, maybe she could try and run away. Try, but would probably fail. She began to rack her brain for any ideas of escaping. But she'd been through this twice before. First in Rumplestiltskin's castle, then the queen's. There was no escape. Guessing her fate, there was no point in even trying. She'd have to spend the rest of her life hiding.

"Hey." The hissed voice startled Belle out of her thoughts and she quickly stood up to see a pair of eyes looking at her through the little flap in the door.

"What do you want?" she backed away, afraid of what might happen.

"You're Belle, right?" the voice carried on whispering. Belle nodded hesitantly, not sure what this man was exactly asking. "Hi there, Belle. My name's Jefferson. I'm here to free you."


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey guys. Sorry for the long wait. Just been a little busy with exams and stuff :/ but here's a new chapter!  
****I heard you guys are happy to see Jefferson. Don't worry, he'll be sticking around for a bit, cos, you know, he's awesome :D**

"Here." Jefferson passed Belle a sandwich and an apple through the little flap in the door, "Don't worry, it's not poisoned." He grinned, looking at the apple. For the last two days, Jefferson had made sure Belle had a proper meal so she wouldn't ever go hungry. And made sure she wouldn't go mad without any company.

Belle sat comfortably on the floor smiled back as she took the food, "Why are you doing this?"

"You need proper food, sweetheart."

Belle shook her head, "Why are you helping me escape?"

Jefferson only shrugged, "I know you remember. You're not really insane. You shouldn't be locked up here. And I know what it's like to be trapped for so long." His smile faded at the memories.

"Why? What happened?" she tilted her head a little, getting a closer look at the saddened eyes of the strange man.

"Nothing..." He whispered, avoiding eye contact with Belle. But she wasn't satisfied with the answer, so she moved closer so that she could get a proper look at Jefferson through the flap.

"Why won't you tell me?" she asked. After a few moments, he looked up and sighed. Then turned his head to make sure they weren't being watched.

"I had a daughter. Her name was Grace. Here it's Paige."

"You have a daughter?" Belle seemed surprised.

Jefferson nodded, "Back in our land, I made a deal with Regina. And because of that, I lost her. I lost Grace. I was trapped in another world with no way back."

"She was left all alone?" Belle saw his jaw clench.

"She had some other family to take care of her, but she's never seen me since. Never remembered me since." Belle lifted her hand to where Jefferson's was resting on the edge of the flap, and she held it tight.

"Don't worry. I know the curse will break. And when it does, you can go find her, go be with her again."

He shook his head, "She'll hate me."

"Don't say that. Why would she hate you?"

"Because I left her. I promised her I'd be back home in time for tea. And I broke that promise."

"It wasn't your fault."

"Yes it was. We were poor. I didn't have to make that deal with Regina. She promised me if I did, my daughter wouldn't want for anything again."

"You were only trying to help her." Jefferson shook his head sadly.

"What do I tell her when the curse breaks?"

Belle opened her mouth to reply, but the sound of footsteps made her keep quiet. Jefferson put a finger to his lips and stood up, the flap closing as they both took their hands away. Belle could only hear voices.

"What are you doing here, Jefferson?" it was Regina.

"I work here." He replied, a little irritably.

"Well you're not just guarding this one cell. Go check up on some of the other patients." Her demand was only followed by silence. Belle started to wonder what type of relationship Jefferson had with Regina. She assumed it was the same as hers and Rumplestiltskin's. That the two hated each other. Regina was, after all, the reason why he wasn't with his daughter, Grace.

After a few moments Belle heard footsteps walking away from her cell. She guessed Jefferson had left.

Belle jumped when her flap opened, automatically pushing the sandwich and apple behind her. Regina stared at her through the door and smiled. Then after a few moments in uncomfortable silence, she simply walked away.

_What was that?_ Belle guessed that Regina was just checking up on her. Making sure she was still there, still unhappy. Not for long, though. Jefferson had made a promise to her two days ago. That he would help her escape.

* * *

Rumplestiltskin stood in his pawnshop after recently being let out of jail the day before. He hadn't actually got the chance to go to the hospital, and even if he did, he wouldn't be allowed to see to Belle. Luckily for him, no one had visited the shop since. He'd spent all his time thinking about Belle. Had all that time in that horrible place made her go insane again? Had she forgotten who he was? Unless she had someone to talk to while she was in there, Belle would go back to her cursed-self. If only he hadn't been sent to jail, he would've been able to do something. Maybe try and help her escape.

Then the bell rang, cutting off all his thoughts.

"Miss Swan. Come to arrest me again?" Emma rolled her eyes and walked up to the counter.

"I just thought I'd give you a little update on Belle. She told me about you two a while ago and I promised I'd keep my mouth shut. Now I want to help her."

"You want to help her?"

"Well, as much as I can. I can't let her out of the hospital, if that's what you mean."

"And do you believe she's insane?" Emma took a moment to consider before answering,

"I haven't seen anything to prove that she is." She said evenly.

"Well, what's going to happen to her?"

"Dr Hopper is going to take a look at her. See if she's actually mentally stable."

"Excuse me?"

"Well, you know that it wasn't intended to keep her there forever. Just temporarily, until we were able to get hold of someone who could take a look at her."

Rumplestiltskin wasn't completely sure how he felt about this. In one way, he was glad. Dr Hopper had cured Belle once (only if it wasn't going to last) and he could cure her again. But then, the curse did make her insane. She wasn't really one hundred per cent mentally stable. If Dr Hopper could see that, then they were screwed.

"When is he going to see her?"

"In one week."

One week. Would she last that long?

"Do you think I could see her?" Emma shook her head.

"I wouldn't recommend it. You need to try and stay away from her for a bit. Give her a little space until we know what's going to happen with her."

He didn't like the sound of that. All he wanted was to see how she was doing. For himself. At least one visit. One visit, and he could try and get her out of there.

Rumplestiltskin looked irritated. Emma could clearly see this, "Don't worry. You will see her again. I won't let them stop you from seeing her."

Rumplestiltskin was silent for a moment. This felt a little bit strange. The way Emma was acting towards him. Why she was being so nice to him.

"Why are you helping me?"

Emma shrugged, "I know what it's like to be kept from someone you love."

Rumplestiltskin smiled, "Ah. Henry. Is Mayor Mills still keeping you from him?"

"Don't push me, Gold. You know the situation. Just keep out of it and worry about your own problems."

"Don't worry, I'll keep well out of the way."

Emma turned to leave, "You'll be able to see Belle in at least a week." She opened the door.

Rumplestiltskin called after her, "Miss Swan." she popped her head back through the door,

"Yeah?"

He was a little hesitant before replying, "Thank you."

Emma smiled a little triumphantly at the words before leaving.

* * *

"Hey. I have something to tell you." Jefferson said quietly as he passed Belle the hospital food, and some extras.

"What is it?" Belle knelt in front of the door to take the food.

Jefferson avoided looking at her, "I, uh, I can't see you anymore."

"What? Why?" she felt tears begin to prickle at her eyes a little. Jefferson was the only friend she had here. The only person that kept her sane. And she really enjoyed his company. Without him, she would be truly alone.

"I'm really sorry. I really want to be able to talk with you. It's just, apparently there's a no-talking-to-the-patients-while-working rule, and I might have been spotted."

"Someone saw you?"

"Regina. She's told me if I'm caught again she'll fire me. Then I _really _wouldn't be able to talk to you."

"So I can never see you again?" her voice cracked a little as she spoke.

"No, not never. I'll still bring you extra food. Don't want you going hungry. I just won't be able to talk to you."

Belle slouched down from the door. She wouldn't be allowed to talk to Jefferson, probably ever, again. But then she remembered, "Are you still going to help me out of here?" she asked hopefully.

"Of course. I told you, I know what it's like to be trapped. And no good person deserves that. Especially you."

Belle smiled, "How are we going to do it then?"

"Well, Dr Hopper is coming to see you."

Her smile disappeared a little, "What?"

"He's coming to check if you're sane. If he says you are, then you're allowed to leave. But if he says you're not… then you're still going to get out of here."

"I am?"

Jefferson grinned and nodded, "Yep. And that'll be fun."


	11. Chapter 11

**Ok, Jefferson isn't in this one. Sorry. But I will be putting him in my next chapters. He's going to be helping Belle. **

Slowly, very slowly, the days passed. Each minute felt like an hour. And every hour felt like a day. Even though Belle had lost track of time, that's what it felt like to her. And the only thing worth moving out from her little corner of the room, was when food came. And nothing came after the food. It didn't even feel like a life anymore. More like a prison sentence.

After a few weeks, Belle felt herself start to lose it a little. The person giving her food merely became a hand. Just a hand that gave her the food she needed to live. She could've sworn that hand once hand a name. And it was important to her. Who was it? Jeffery, Jarred, Joseph? No that wasn't it. Oh well, she'll eventually remember. It was just some guy.

After what seemed about a month, Belle began to forget why she was even there. No matter how much she thought, she couldn't remember the reason why she had been put in here. Well, that didn't matter. Just as long as she was surviving. She remembered she needed to survive. So that she could have hope. Hope for…what was it again? She knew all this time there had been a little hope in her for something. Something important.

_What was it?_

Belle lay against the wall and began to bang her head against it a couple of times, trying to remember what it was.

Then just before she could knock herself into unconsciousness, she saw the flap on the door open. Sitting up on her bed in the corner of her room, she could only see mouths moving through the flap, and decided to pay attention to what they were saying,

"That's her?"

"That's her." The other mouth confirmed.

"It doesn't look like her."

"Trust me Dr Hopper, it's her."

"How exactly are you running this place, Regina? How can she look like that in only a week?"

"I guess she's just decided to let herself go." The lips belonging to, as the man called her, Regina, curled into a wicked smile and disappeared from the flap, "Nurses, Dr Hopper's here to speak to the patient."

Belle brought her knees up to her chest and hugged them. Were they talking about her? What were they talking about?

Suddenly, the door opened. The door opened! It was the first time it had ever opened since…since she could remember. Were they letting her go? She got up from her bed and started to walk towards it, squinting her eyes a little from the light.

But before she could even touch the door, a lady dressed in white quickly came through and held her arm tightly. She struggled to try and get free but they wouldn't let go.

"Stop it! Let go of me!" she moaned.

"Stay still. Someone's here to talk to you."

Then a man stepped into the room. He looked a lot like the man she just saw talking outside her door.

"Mr name's Dr Hopper," Dr Hopper…the name sounded familiar. She'd heard it somewhere before. Not just when that lady was talking to him, but way before. Someone had told her about him. But she couldn't remember what they said, "I'm going to talk to you for a bit. Have a little chat. Is that okay?"

Belle stopped trying to struggle and relaxed. The nurse let her arm go, and walked out. Whispering something to Dr Hopper as she left. Belle thought she heard her tell him that the patient hadn't proven to be dangerous yet. But they'd be watching them.

Are they talking about her again? She's not dangerous! What are they going on about?

Dr Hopper looked at Belle and smiled kindly. But she didn't smile back.

"Why do you want to talk to me?" They both stood still in the middle of the room.

"I just want to ask you a few questions."

"Yes, but why? I won't answer anything unless you tell me." Dr Hopper took a while to think before speaking again.

"Well, answer this question, and I'll tell you why. Do you know why you're here?"

Belle opened her mouth to answer when she realised, she didn't know. She couldn't remember.  
She shook her head, "No, that's not fair. I've been here too long to remember why."

"You've only been here a week."

_What? _No, that's not possible. Only a week? That didn't make any sense. She could've sworn it was much longer, "You're lying to me."

He shook his head, "I'm not."

Belle's eyes started to fill up with tears. _Oh God. _What was happening to her? Why was she forgetting everything?

"Now," he carried on calmly, "I'm going to ask you a few more questions. Then when I'm done, I'll leave you alone. It that okay?"

Belle pressed the palms of her hands up to her eyes and sat down on her little bed. Then she took her hands away and nodded, "Yes."

Dr Hopper sat down next to her and waited a bit before asking the next question.

"What's your name?"

She looked up at him, slightly confused. Why had he just asked something as simple as that?

"Belle." She replied confidently, "What's yours?" the Doctor smiled,

"My name's Archie." Belle smiled back,

"Can I call you Archie then? I prefer it to Dr Hopper."

"Sure," he smiled back, "So, Belle, can you tell me about your family? What about friends?"

"Well, I have a father. His name is Moe French. My mother died when I was little, so I don't remember anything about her." Her smile faded a little, "And Ruby is my only friend." When she said it out loud it didn't seem like an amazing life, but she was proud she could at least remember these things. Just the little things made her happy.

"Sounds simple enough. And, how do you feel being in here?"

"It sucks." She said with a half-hearted smile, "And the worst part is, I can't even remember why I'm here? Did I do anything wrong? Is this jail? Did I hurt someone?" she started to panic a little more with each question.

"No, no, you haven't hurt anyone. This isn't a jail. We're just keeping you here for your own good. To make sure you're safe."

"Am I staying here forever?"

Archie hesitated a little before answering slowly, "No. Not forever."

"What is this place, Archie? Tell me honestly."

He shook his head, "I need to finish talking to you before I can answer anything like that."

Belle sighed and sat back against the wall, "What do you want to know?"

"Just, talk to me. Tell me about yourself. Any likes, dislikes, hobbies…anyone you care about, anyone you miss?"

Belle thought for a moment. Why did he look at her that way on the last question? Anyone she cared about? Her father, Ruby. She felt like there was someone else though, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Well, she couldn't truly care for them if she couldn't remember.

"I just want to go home. To see my father. To see Ruby. I just miss everything about the outside world. I've only been here a week and it feels like forever. I still don't get why I don't remember anything about why I'm here, or where exactly I am."

"Are you scared?"

She seemed to have to think a bit before answering. But she shook her head, "No. I'm not scared. Just unhappy."

"Why are you unhappy?"

"For starters, being in here. And, I can't help but feel that you're not being honest with me. It's already weird that you've been sent in here just to have a 'talk' with me," she gestured with her fingers on the word 'talk', "But you're asking me questions and I still don't know why. You want me to talk with you. So why can't you answer _my _questions?"

Archie was silent. Belle could tell he was thinking. He was here for an important reason. And she wanted to know what it was. "Okay. I think I can now."

Belle moved forward a little. Eager to start. "You're going to be completely honest with me?"

"I believe that honesty would be the best way to help you."

Belle smiled. Now she felt a little better. "Where am I?" she asked simply.

Archie took a deep breath before answering, "You're in a psychological hospital."

Belle's eyes widened, "A what? _Why?" _

"You don't remember being put in here, or who put you here." He said it as more of a fact than a question.

"No I don't. So do you want to tell me?"

"I was sent in here-"

"Answer my question." Belle said fiercely, raising her voice slightly, getting irritated at the way he was ignoring her questions.

"I will answer all your questions. Just please let me finish. I was sent here to talk to you, to make sure you were sane."

"Well, what do you think?"

He shrugged, "You seem completely normal to me. Nothing that means you have to be kept here. I'm just a little puzzled of why you can't remember much of being in here. Maybe your suffering from amnesia."

"Maybe. I have no idea. Who put me in here?"

Archie seemed to look sympathetic, "Your father."

"What? My father?" Belle began to shake her head in disbelief, "No. He wouldn't do something like that? Would he?"

"Well, he did. He seemed to feel pretty strongly about why he was putting you here."

"Why did he put me here?"

"I think you can ask him that yourself. I say you're not insane, therefore it is not legal to keep you in here."

Belle's eyes widened and the corners of her mouth curled upward.

"You mean I can leave?"

Archie smiled along with her.

"Yes, Belle. You can leave."


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey, sorry for the slow update. I've been a little busy. But I was quite excited to write more scenes with Belle and Jefferson. And here they are...**

One of the nurses, a man, walked into Belle's cell with a huge grin,

"You're free!" he said, gently squeezing one of her hands. Belle looked up at the man with a friendly smile, but was slightly confused.

"Yeah. I guess I am." She was wearing the same clothes she had when she first got here. Even though Belle didn't remember this happening, she knew she couldn't wait to get home to wash up and start normal life again.

The man led her out of the room and into the hallway. Then they went round a few corners which eventually led them to the front desk, where a lady was sitting.

"Could we have the form please?" he asked the lady. Belle watched as she took a piece of paper out from a file and grabbed a nearby pen. She handed it to the man and he held the paper up in front of Belle.

"You just need to sign this," he said, "then you can leave." The man handed it to her, and she quickly filled in her name, "Oh, and your father will be coming to collect you shortly." He added a little grimly.

Belle kindly smiled at the man again, "Thank you." she said, handing him the form and pen. He gave it to the lady at the desk and when he looked back, Belle's eyes were long and distant.

"Are you okay?" he asked, frowning a little.

Belle turned to him, snapping out of her daydream, "Oh, yeah. I just can't wait to get out of this place."

"Don't worry, once you're out, you'll be free. And you can go find Mr Gold."

Belle looked confused again. Did she know this nurse? He was acting as if she did. He was really nice. A lot nicer than anyone had ever been to her in this hospital. Besides Archie. He was nice too.

But she shook her head, "Who?"

The man's smile faded and he shook his head a little frustratingly, "Wait. You don't remember him?" Belle shrugged and shook her head, "You don't even remember who I am. Do you?"

She shook her head again, "No, sorry. I don't."

"She doesn't remember Mr Gold." Moe French stepped beside her with a twisted smile, "Isn't that a shame?"

Belle turned to her father and smiled delightedly, "Papa!" she threw her arms around him, clearly happy to see him again.

"Hello Belle." He chuckled slightly, "Let's go home, shall we?" Belle let go of her father and nodded. They both turned, walking off.

Just before they stepped out of the door, Belle turned to the nurse, "Thanks again, Mr…"

The man snapped out of his little daydream. He didn't seem exactly happy, "Jefferson." He forced a smile, "Just call me Jefferson."

Belle smiled in return, "Thank you Jefferson." And both her and her father left.

* * *

Rumplestiltskin stood in his shop, nervously polishing one of his many items. He needed something to take his mind off Belle.

It had been a week. And Dr Hopper would've been to see her today. Emma promised she would give him any news on Belle. And he was waiting for that to happen. He was warned not to see Belle until she was ready. And Rumplestiltskin thought that any minute, he would break.

But then the bell rang. And his stomach twisted as he looked up. But it wasn't Emma.

"Jefferson," he didn't even bother to smile. Rumplestiltskin wasn't in the mood today, "May I help you with anything?"

Jefferson didn't look happy. He'd come straight from work. Rumplestiltskin didn't expect him to be. Both he and Jefferson knew that each other remembered their past lives. And rarely bothered to talk to each other in this land. But Rumplestiltskin knew he worked in the psychiatric hospital, where Belle was. And that was the only thing keeping him from kicking him out of his shop.

"Belle's free."

Rumplestiltskin's stomach turned and his mouth became dry, "She, she's free?" he stuttered. Jefferson nodded. "Well, when can I go see her?" he walked out from behind his counter, but Jefferson held out his hand, telling him to stop.

"She doesn't remember you."

Rumplestiltskin's voice turned dangerously quiet, "_What?" _

"I talked to her and-"

"Someone should've been there! I should've been there! Belle needed someone to talk to to keep her sane! She needed someone to be with her so she wouldn't forget!" he shouted angrily.

"_I_ was there." Jefferson tried to stay calm. Rumplestiltskin wasn't the only one that cared about her.

"Well, why has she forgotten then?!"

"I couldn't talk to her."

"You couldn't talk to her?!" he yelled. Jefferson started to lose his patience a little.

"Regina threatened me. She saw me talking to her. She told me if I did it again, I would be fired and moved to the other side of Storybrooke. That means I can't see my daughter. You know what it's like to lose a child."

Rumplestiltskin went quiet. He tried to calm down. "I'm sorry." Jefferson continued, "I didn't know that she would go back to her cursed-self if she was alone."

"Alright, well, what happened with Dr Hopper?" he said, lowering his voice.

"He said Belle's sane. Which is true. But now she's cursed again, and she'll go crazy round you-"

"Don't, call her crazy." Rumplestiltskin interrupted, trying to keep calm.

"If Dr Hopper sees her like that," he continued, ignoring Rumplestiltskin's interruption, "he'll defiantly reconsider her release."

Rumplestiltskin closed his eyes, trying to collect his thoughts. Then he sighed frustratingly as he opened them. "So I can't see her."

"Well, Dr Hopper cured her once, right? Can't he just do it again?"

"As far as he's concerned, Belle doesn't need treatment. And even if he did, it wouldn't last forever. Only Emma can break the curse. Belle's curse might be different, but it's still connected with everyone else's."

"So what are you saying? We just wait?" Rumplestiltskin shrugged sadly,

"It seems we're going to have to."

"Don't worry. I'll watch over her. I'll make sure you two don't accidently meet."

Rumplestiltskin realised that Jefferson was doing him a huge favour. And that meant he wanted something in return. Everything comes with a price.

"Why are you doing this? What do you want?"

"I know what it's like for people to think you're crazy. Belle doesn't deserve that. I don't want anything. I'm doing this for her." Then he left.

* * *

Jefferson walked down the stairs into the psychiatric hospital, where Regina was talking to the lady at the front desk.

"She _left?_" Regina asked, clearly annoyed. This made him smile, to see her like this.

"Regina." He interrupted. She turned round irritably,

"_What?" _

He went closer to her and snarled in her face, "I quit."

"The crazy atmosphere finally got to your head?" she smiled mockingly.

"I've seen what this place does to people, Regina. And I don't want to be a part of it. I don't want to be responsible for what happens to these people."

Regina's mocking smile turned into a hideous grin, "You mean Belle?"

Jefferson clenched his jaw tight. Forcing himself not to say anything. Regina was on his last nerve. She _knew _what she'd done to Belle. And she was _happy_ about it. Jefferson wanted so much to kill her there and then. But he couldn't. What would Grace think of him?

To stop himself from doing anything he'd regret, he left. He was going to go find Belle.

* * *

He found her sitting by herself at Granny's café with a cup of tea in her hands. She seemed to just be observing the place and people around her, until she spotted him.

"Jefferson, right?" he walked up to the booth and looked down at her with a half-hearted smile.

"Yeah. You remember me." obviously not how he wanted her to. But at least she knew his name.

She gestured for him to sit down, so he slid in the seat opposite her.

"So, is there anything I should know about my life? You know, since I've seemed to have forgotten everything."

"You haven't forgotten everything. You remember your father. And Ruby. There's not much more really."

"Are you sure? You seemed really friendly to me back at the hospital." She said, taking a sip of tea.

"Well, when I was working there, I guess we built up a little friendship."

"Really? I'm sorry I don't remember."

"That's okay. It's not your fault. Have you spoken to your father about anything?"

Belle shrugged, "Archie told me he was the reason I was sent there. That my own father locked me away."

"And have you asked him about it?"

Belle was quiet for a moment, "Yes. He said that, I was in a bad place at the time. That I really needed help. He thought putting me there would help. And I guess it did. Since I don't remember any of it." She forced a weak smile.

Jefferson didn't reply. He was trying to remember what she was like before she was put in the hospital. They hadn't really met before. Only on one occasion, and that was the day he found out about her curse. But that she too remembered their other life.

"Why aren't you at work?" she asked curiously, trying to change the subject.

"Oh yeah. I quit."

Belle's eyes widened as she took a sip of tea, "You quit? Why?"

Jefferson waved it off, "Oh, it was boring me."

Belle managed a little giggle, which made him smile.

"I like you, Jefferson. I'm sorry I don't remember you. You must've been a good friend."

"We only knew each other for a week."

Belle seemed surprised, "Really? Only a week?"

Jefferson nodded, "Yeah. I was the guy that gave you your meals."

"You were?"

"Mhm." He hummed.

"I was in the hospital for a week. Did we become friends because of me being locked up?"

"Yeah. I was going to help you escape." He winked, lowering his voice.

"What?" Belle gasped, but she smiled.

"Yep. But I guess I didn't need to."

"I don't remember us even talking."

Jefferson began to look a little guilty, "We did. And then we didn't."

Belle raised an eyebrow, "We did and then we didn't?"

He shrugged, "Yeah. All great friendships work like that," he grinned, "with no talking." He joked.

Belle laughed again, "Well I'm glad we're friends. You remember things about me that I don't."

"I told you, we only knew each other for a week."

Belle picked up her mug and spoke before taking a sip, "Yes, but a lot can happen in a week."

That-Jefferson knew- was completely true.

"Even with no talking?" he grinned.

Belle put her mug down and smirked, "Even with no talking."


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey guys! This is all Belle and Jefferson friendship. Did you hear Meghan Ory's left Once Upon A Time? Apparently she's too busy filming another series and she just can't do both shows. I will miss her :(  
Anyway, here's another chapter**

* * *

Exactly one week had passed since Belle had been freed from the hospital. And every day since she had spent with Jefferson. No one would've thought that they'd only met a few days ago. They were practically inseparable. Jefferson had come to enjoy the company of Belle and decided that he wasn't going to stay with her just to watch over her. He would stay with her because they had become really good friends. He never failed to make Belle smile or laugh. And he helped her remember who she was. She always loved having him around.

They were on their way to Granny's café to meet Ruby (Belle had introduced her two friends and they slowly became a group of three) when they bumped into Henry. The little boy looked up at Belle with a look of utter delight on his face,

"Hey, you're out! I can't believe it!"

Belle couldn't help giggle a little, "Yeah, I guess they decided I'm not some crazy lunatic after all."

"Well I always knew you weren't insane. You remember," Jefferson suddenly realised that Henry didn't know that Belle had been returned back to her cursed-self, and started to panic. He could say anything right now that might possibly set her off.

He quickly started shaking his head so only Henry could see, "and that could help me convince Emma," he carried on obliviously. Jefferson moved his hand in front of his neck to try and tell Henry to shut his mouth. Then he began to mouth the words:

_Stop it! Stop talking!_

"you could even find…" he trailed off.

_She doesn't remember._

Henry finally understood Jefferson's message, but Belle could tell something was happening behind her back. She turned her head and Jefferson stopped immediately.

"Find what?" she asked, eyeing Jefferson suspiciously. He just smiled.

Henry kept quiet, "Henry?" she turned back to face him.

"Find me, a, uh, present." He stuttered.

"A present?"

"Yeah. For my birthday. You promised you'd get me one, remember?"

Belle began to shake her head, "No...I don't remember…"

"Great! Well can you get me one please thanks bye!" he finished in a rush and began to run off, but Jefferson was quick to grab him by his backpack.

"Woah, hold on." He said, "You go ahead, Belle. I'll meet you and Ruby in a minute."

She raised her eyebrows in a silent question, "I just need to have a few words with Henry and his rudeness. You know, that he _shouldn't be opening his mouth so much." _He directed it towards Henry, "You know you can't just go round asking people for birthday presents."

Henry clearly knew that Jefferson was scolding him.

"Okay, well, see you in a minute." Belle said, walking off.

Both of them waited until she was out of ear shot.

"I'm sorry!" Henry exclaimed, "I didn't know-"

"It's fine. I'm just asking you to be a little careful next time. Okay?" Henry nodded, "I'm still not completely sure what else can set her off. I think maybe even _his _name might trigger something. We can't afford to be risky."

"You care about her." Henry smiled, "I didn't expect that from you. From the Mad Hatter."

"Well that's exactly it," he said with a grin, "I don't want people thinking she's mad."

* * *

Rumplestiltskin watched Belle, Jefferson and Henry from his pawnshop. They chatted across the street from him, but he knew exactly what was happening. The boy was completely clueless to the fact that Belle didn't remember anything about the curse. And that he was about to give everything away. But Jefferson was there. He didn't need to worry. He would protect Belle until the curse broke. That's what he'd promised him. Then they could be together again.

He watched as Belle left and Jefferson talked to Henry about her. He's a smart kid. He managed to work out who and what everyone in this cursed town was simply by reading a book. And Rumplestiltskin knew that the boy would go to extraordinary lengths to make Emma believe. And he could tell that was going to happen soon. Really soon.

* * *

Jefferson walked into the café to find Belle sitting at the counter talking to Ruby.

"Hey." They chorused.

"Hi."

"We were just talking about having a girl's night." Ruby said, "Wanna come?"

Jefferson laughed, "I'm alright." He said.

"Oh well," Ruby turned to Belle, "I guess it'll just be the two of us."

"Aw, I think you'll really enjoy tonight, Jefferson."

"It's _girls _night. I'm a man, thank you very much."

Belle grinned, "We're going to the Rabbit Hole."

Jefferson stopped smiling, "The Rabbit Hole?" the two girls nodded in unison, "They're having strippers there tonight."

"Yup."

"_Ruby!" _

"What?! It's just a little fun, come on. Think of it as celebrating Belle's freedom."

"She was only in there for a week." They started talking as if Belle wasn't even there.

"So? A week can feel like forever in that hellhole."

"Guys!" Belle interrupted, "It's my choice, you know. I can go if I like."

"Exactly." Grinned Ruby triumphantly.

Jefferson sighed and shook his head disapprovingly at her.

"Oh, hey Archie!" Belle waved to Dr Hopper who had just sat down at a table, "Excuse me, guys." She went over to talk to Archie while Jefferson turned to Ruby.

"What are you thinking?!" he hissed, "You can't take Belle to a strip club! She's with Mr Gold!"

"_With?_ She doesn't even remember who he is."

"She will." He mumbled. Obviously Ruby wasn't going to understand. She didn't remember anything.

"They didn't have a healthy relationship anyway. It's time she met someone new. And proper."

"Proper? What do you mean proper? Is Mr Gold not _proper _enough for you?"

Ruby quickly rolled her eyes, "No, actually, he isn't." she said irritably, "Just let her do what she wants, okay? It's her life."

"Whatever." Jefferson knew that even _if _she did start something with someone, she would go back to Rumplestiltskin after the curse broke anyway. No matter what. This one night wouldn't do anything. Hopefully.

* * *

Belle opened her front door to find Jefferson standing there.

"You decided to tag along?" She was wearing a short, tight blue dress with black high heels.

He raised his eyebrows, "You're going like that?"

Belle nodded, "Problem?"

"It's a bit... revealing, don't you think?"

"Come on, Jefferson. You're so boring today. This is only for tonight. I'll probably end up chucking this away after."

He let himself in, "Of course you will."

She closed the door while Jefferson slumped down on her sofa.

"Well I'm leaving pretty soon. You going to walk me?"

He threw his head back, "Urgh!"

She cocked her head to the side, "Jefferson…"

"I just don't think it's a good idea." He said, lifting his head back up.

"Well I don't care what you think," she smiled, "I'm going. Okay?"

"Are you sure it's okay for you to be doing something like this so early on? You only got out of that hospital a week ago."

"Yes, but a lot can happen in a week." She grinned.

"Yeah yeah yeah, use my words against me, you're no fair!"

Belle laughed, "Stop whining. God, you're more annoying than a five-year-old!"

"I'm not whining."

"You are."

"Not."

"Look, I'm leaving now. Are you going to stay here in my apartment, or are you going to walk there with me?" she couldn't help smile.

"Fiiiiiiine!" he got up and walked out the door, waiting for Belle to follow.

* * *

Jefferson dropped her off with Ruby and walked around town for the next few hours, looking for his special sleeping mixture he loves to add in his guest's tea.

Then he noticed Belle and Ruby on the other side of the street. Belle didn't seem to be walking straight, but Ruby seemed perfectly fine.

Jefferson made his way over to them and asked how their night was.

"Uh, well, we had fun." Ruby said a little uncertainly.

"Lots of fun!" Belle exclaimed a little too loudly.

Jefferson rolled his eyes and sighed heavily, "She's drunk."

Ruby made a face, "Yeah…"

"Ruby, I told you-"

"Wow! I never noticed how your hair sticks up like that!" Belle interrupted, touching his hair, "Do you put syrup in it or something?"

Jefferson gently grabbed her by the wrist and took her hand away from his head, "Belle, you're drunk. I'm taking you home." He started to lead her away, but she pulled her arm back.

"I'm not drunk!"

"She told me this was her first time to do something like this. I guess she got a little too excited and decided to _really _celebrate." Ruby informed him.

"Great."

"I wasn't _too _excited! The nice man just kept giving me drinks. I didn't have to pay so I thought, 'what the hell?'" she spread out her arms in an exaggerated shrug and stumbled over a little.

"You see, Ruby?"

She screwed up her face, "Sorry."

He sighed again and took Belle's hand, "Come on, I'm taking you home." They started walking and Belle turned back to Ruby with wide eyes,

"He's taking me home!" she turned to Jefferson, "You sure you're just _taking _me home?"

Jefferson rolled his eyes irritably. This was just great.

* * *

Belle had been talking about anything that came to her mind the whole walk home, and when they finally got to her apartment, Jefferson spoke for the first time,

"Where are your keys?"

Belle glared at him in thought, "My keys?" then she widened her eyes at him, "Oh my KEYS!" she wiggled a finger at him, "You want my keys."

"Yes, now can you get them please." He said a little impatiently.

"Okay, okay, hold on." She brought her hand up to her chest, and Jefferson quickly turned his head away. She reached inside her bra and took the keys out and dangled them in front of him. Jefferson tried not to let them touch his face. "Here are the keys. Are you happy now?"

"Only when you use them to open the door."

"God, you're so _impatient_! I was getting to that part." She unlocked the door and flung it open. Jefferson followed her in and closed the door.

"You need to get some sleep now."

"Psh! I don't need sleep."

"Yes, you do. You're going to have a hangover tomorrow."

"Well then I'm _definitely_ not going to sleep!" but Belle fell back into her bed anyway, "My feet hurt. It's these stupid shoes!" she kicked off the black high heels.

"I told you this was a bad idea." Jefferson said, picking up her shoes and placing them neatly on the floor.

"Yeah, well, I had a good time and I deserve a night out with my friend."

"Okay, I'm glad you had fun. Just please don't do this again." He said, sitting down on the bed next to her.

She put her hand on his face a gently patted it, "Oh Jeff. Jeffy Jeffy."

Jefferson couldn't help laugh a little, "Belle, you need to get some sleep."

She yawned, "But I'm not tired."

"Well I brought my special tea along. And that will defiantly knock you out. You want some of that?"

Belle stared at him blankly for a moment before answering in a whisper, "Yes!"

Jefferson smiled and got up to fetch the drink where he left it at the front door. And just as he expected, when he got back to her room, she was fast asleep on her bed. He smiled at the look of peacefulness on her face. She looked so happy and relaxed in her sleep. Well, Belle was always happy. That's one thing Jefferson had come to learn about her. She was always cheerful and saw the good in everyone. And in everything.

He walked over to her bed and gently whispered,

"Goodnight, Belle."

* * *

**Ok, I've never written a scene where someone's drunk before, so I'm not actually sure if I wrote it well. But there you go.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hiya! This is quite an important chapter, hope I wrote it well enough...  
Oh, by the way, for those of you who are missing Meghan I saw her tweet this: "For the Oncers I must clarify...Ruby never died and we haven't seen the last of Red." So I guess we're going to see a little more of her? Oh well, we'll see in season 3.  
Anyway, here ya go!**

* * *

Belle woke up the next morning with a splitting headache. And the light coming from the window made her pull the covers up over her head and want to stay there forever. She couldn't remember much of last night, but she knew she was never doing it again.

She eventually forced herself to bring the covers down and get up. Luckily today was only Sunday, so she wouldn't have to go to the library. Her father could manage it.

Belle made her way to the kitchen to get a glass of water. When she got back to her room she noticed a piece of paper stuck to her mirror. She pulled it down, sat on her bed and read it:

_Good morning Belle,_

_You probably have a huge headache right now. And I hope that's enough tell you that what you did wasn't a good idea, and that you won't want to do it again. I know you probably won't feel like doing anything this morning, so I thought I'd just leave you an apple and a little sandwich to eat for breakfast. I left it in the fridge. You're not going to want to feel like eating, but you must. Make sure you drink plenty of water as well, it'll help.  
I'm sorry, I would've stayed the night so I could've helped you this morning, but I needed to sort out something with Regina since Henry's in hospital. I guess you haven't heard about that yet.  
Last night Henry collapsed at Emma and Mary Margret's apartment. He hasn't woken up since. Don't worry though, I'm sure he'll be fine. _

_See you soon,  
Jefferson._

What? Henry was in the hospital? How did that even happen? Belle knew Jefferson and she knew that he finished that letter too quickly for him to be 'fine'. He couldn't think of anything else to say, that's why. Jefferson knew something bad could happen to Henry. Really bad. And she wasn't going to sit and feel sorry for herself for the rest of the day. She was going to get up and do something. Maybe now she could go look for a present for him.

Belle quickly drank the rest of her water and went to the kitchen. She opened the fridge to find a sandwich and an apple. Her stomach disagreed with the thought of eating, but Jefferson told her she must. So she quickly ate the sandwich while getting dressed and took the apple to eat in town.

Belle wanted to get something Henry would really enjoy once he was out of the hospital. Maybe something he could play with, but she wasn't exactly sure what. Maybe she'll know when she sees it.

She was busy looking through shop windows and eating her apple when she crashed into Jefferson.

"Oh, sorry." She dropped her apple and went to pick it up.

"Hey, Belle." She looked up to see Jefferson.

"Oh hey, Jefferson." She smiled.

"You're up earlier than I expected. You feeling any better?" Belle dropped the apple in a nearby bin.

"Not really. I saw your note and decided to go look for something for Henry instead of staying in bed all day."

"Hey, you don't have to go out of your way like this."

"Of course I do! Henry's in hospital. The least I can do is get him his birthday present." Jefferson shook his head.

"I don't think he was being completely honest about that."

"Regardless, I still want to get him something." She began to walk off and Jefferson followed.

"Ok fine," he shrugged, "Do you want me to help?" she turned to him and grinned,

"Sure! It can be from both of us."

A few minutes later they ran into Ruby. She looked a little surprised to see Belle, but she was happy.

"Oh, hey!"

"Hi."

Ruby made a face, "You feeling good?"

"Not really. Besides the fact that I've got a headache, I'm really worried about Henry."

"Henry?"

"Yeah," her face turned sad, "Jefferson told me he's in hospital."

Ruby's eyes became wide with horror, "What? Really?"

"Yeah," Jefferson said, "We're just looking for his…birthday present." He knew all too well that Henry didn't have a birthday coming up, but if getting him something made Belle happy, then that's what they'd do.

"Oh, well, let me know if anything happens."

Belle nodded, "Sure." Then Ruby headed to work, "Poor kid. What exactly happened anyway?"

"Oh, he uh, collapsed at Emma and Mary Margret's apartment." Jefferson had known exactly what had happened. He was under the sleeping curse. But obviously he couldn't tell Belle that.

"Yeah, I know that. But I don't see how he could've just _collapsed._"

Jefferson shrugged, "Well, that's all I know." He lied.

"Oh, and, you said now that Henry's in hospital you needed to sort something out with Regina. What did you need to do?"

"Uh," Jefferson wasn't sure how to answer this question, since it involved magic, "I just had to talk to her about some things that needed to be sorted out."

Belle looked at him a little suspiciously. She could easily tell he was putting off the question. For some reason he didn't want to answer it.

"And you decided that Henry being in hospital was the perfect time to do that?" she began to feel a little angry. Jefferson tried hard to cover his smile, remembering the look on Regina's face when he went to go see her. But Belle could clearly see his amusement, and became even angrier, "_Jefferson!" _

"What? I didn't say anything!"

"Yeah, but I saw it! I can't believe you! You took advantage of Henry being in hospital so you could purposely get Regina at a bad time! What's wrong with you?"

Jefferson sighed at the fact that she didn't understand. And the fact that he couldn't explain it to her. He went to talk to Regina about Grace, and he knew Emma would be able to save Henry. And yes, he knew this was the perfect time to talk to Regina, when she thought she was about to lose a child. She needed to know how he felt. He was pretty sure the curse was going to break soon, and Belle would remember. Hopefully she'll understand him when it does.

"I'm sorry, okay? You'll understand soon. Let's just concentrate on finding something for Henry."

Belle sighed in annoyance at him, but nodded, "Fine."

After a few minutes Jefferson had begun to daydream a little. He thought about the curse being broken, and going to back to his daughter. How would he talk to her? How would he apologise for what he did? Would she ever forgive him? And then there was Belle. Would she still like him once she remembered? Or would she be angry at him for not being completely honest with her?

Jefferson soon realised he hadn't been concentrating when they were just about to walk straight past Mr Gold's shop. Belle had been looking in every window of every shop they'd walked past, and she would look in this one too. And if she saw Rumplestiltskin…  
Jefferson sighed with relief when he noticed that the shop was empty. But that didn't stop Belle from seeing something.

"Look." Belle stopped walking and pointed at something in the shop.

"What?" Jefferson began to panic a little.

"Some wooden swords," she grinned, "They'd be perfect for Henry."

"Why?" Jefferson began to try and change her mind.

"Well, he likes fairy tales, right? We could get him a wooden sword for playing. Maybe get two to play with a friend or something."

"I don't think so." He began to walk off, hoping she would follow, but she carried on looking in the window, "Come on."

She shook her head, "No, I want to get this. I think Henry would love it."

"Well I don't. Come on let's look somewhere else." He gently grabbed Belle by the arm and began to lead her away, but she pulled back.

"Why can't I just have a look?"

Jefferson looked at her a little sadly, "You just can't. Okay?" he looked back into the shop to make sure Rumplestiltskin hadn't walked through. Luckily he hadn't, but he could any minute now, "You just can't." he repeated.

"Well I'm going in anyway." And she walked up to the door, but Jefferson was quick to react, and stood in front of her.

"No." he said firmly.

Belle began to feel angry again, "Stop telling me what to do and get out of my way!"

"I can't. Look, why don't you go meet with Ruby or something, and I'll buy the swords."

Belle folded her arms across her chest and shook her head, "No. Why can't I just buy them? What aren't you telling me, Jefferson? What's wrong with this shop?"

"Everything."

"Is it Mr Gold or something?" she said, ignoring him, "Is he too dangerous to be around?" she joked, but she wasn't smiling. When Jefferson stayed silent it made Belle more curious, "Back in the hospital, when I first got out, you mentioned something about Mr Gold. Didn't you? You told me I could go '_find' _him. What did you mean?"

"I thought you remembered him." He mumbled.

"Well I don't. But that means I must've known him before. Who is he? Why is it so important that I don't see him? And why do I feel like you're lying to me?"

"Just please, _please _trust me, Belle. Don't go in there."

Belle shook her head, "You can't make me." Then she tried to push past Jefferson and get into the shop, but he grabbed her wrist tightly, "Get off me!" she tried to pull away but he had a firm grip.

"Belle, _please!_" suddenly he felt her kick his shin and his grip loosened just a little, but just enough time for Belle to wriggle free. She stumbled into the shop and Jefferson wasn't far behind her.

But it was too late.

Rumplestiltskin walked in from the back of the shop to find a wide eyed Belle staring at him.  
She shook her head, and tears began to fall down her cheeks.

"No…no…_NO!" _she shook her head viciously and sent a piercing scream through the shop. Rumplestiltskin looked at Jefferson in absolute anger, but it all disappeared when he looked back at Belle. His heart was aching at the sound of Belle's cries, and she began to scream things about their past lives.

"It's _you_! I remember you! You're the one!" she yelled, "Rumplestiltskin! You're a _coward! _You're a monster! You let me go! I hate you! I hate you!" tears were streaming down her face but she didn't seem to notice. She didn't seem anything like the Belle they knew.

"Belle, please no. Don't say that sweetheart..." although he knew most of what she was saying was true, it pierced him in the heart to hear her say it aloud.

Jefferson tried to calm her down by holding her hand but she pushed him away.

"Get away from me!"

"Belle…" Rumplestiltskin began to walk towards her, but she screamed. So he stopped, she was just breaking his heart.

Oh God, what was he going to do now? Jefferson hadn't managed to keep her away long enough. But he couldn't think about his anger right now. Well, he couldn't think at all. She was screaming at him.

"All you'll have- all you're _ever _going to have- is an empty heart, and a chipped cup!" even though she had said those same words in the dungeon, she did not look the same when she said it. Her eyes were full of hate and anger, and she was yelling at the top of her voice.

Rumplestiltskin began to shake his head, "No, Belle-"

"An empty heart, and a chipped cup! An empty heart, and a chipped _cup!" _

Jefferson tried once more to calm her down, "Belle, look at me." she didn't acknowledge him, so he tried again with more force, "_Look _at me!" she whirled round and he tried to grab hold of her hands, but she was quick to react and pushed him backwards,

"I said, get away from me!" he stumbled into the wall and hit his head on the corner of a clock hanging on it. It fell down and landed on his head, hitting him again. He wasn't able to get up from the blow, but he was still conscious.

Belle turned back to Rumplestiltskin and pointed a finger at him, "You, Rumplestiltskin,"

"Belle, I-"

"I _never _loved you."

Then even though Rumplestiltskin knew this wasn't true, (well he hoped so much that it wasn't) it hit him like a ton of bricks at how mad Belle must've really been. He shook his head once more and stepped towards her,

"No, no Belle, you don't mean that." Then she saw how close he was to her and she started screaming again.

But her screaming was cut off when there was a sudden gust of wind and she became unconscious, falling into Rumplestiltskin's arms.

Jefferson looked down at the clock that had landed in his lap.

It was 8:15.

* * *

**Ok, so can you guess what's happened? **


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey, so sorry for the wait. But I have it. I've done it. And here it is...**

* * *

Rumplestiltskin looked down at his beauty, unconscious in his arms. Then he looked over at Jefferson, sitting on the floor with a little blood on his head where the clock had hit him after being pushed by Belle. When he felt her begin to stir he looked back and saw her eyes fluttering open. He could see the blue of her eyes looking at him, trying to focus on his face and take in her surroundings. After a few moments, she was able to realise what had just happened. She looked up at Rumplestiltskin with a smile, which soon turned into a huge grin. She put her hand up to his cheek to be sure it was really him.

"R-Rumplestiltskin!"

He let out a big breath he didn't realise he'd been holding. She was ok. She was alright. She remembered. But he needed to be sure.

"You know who I am? You remember?"

Belle quickly nodded, tears of joy starting to fill her eyes.

"I remember. I remember everything!"

Then she leaned up from his arms and pressed her lips against his, missing the taste of straw and old magic. She brought her arms up around his neck, pulling him closer, missing him somuch. And she felt an arm move around her waist, holding her tight. She kissed him harder, never wanting it to end, but she eventually pulled away when she needed to breath. She put both her hands on his cheeks and rested her forehead against his, making sure they were always close. She didn't even notice the tears running down her cheeks.

"I've missed you so much!" she sobbed.

"I've missed you too, sweetheart."

Then she began to bombard him with questions, "Why didn't I remember you? Did I get cursed again? But I remember everything now, right? Does that mean the curse is broken?" she had so many questions she didn't know where to start. But Rumplestiltskin looked down at her and smiled.

"The curse is broken, Belle. You're fine now." She smiled with relief, and then it quickly vanished when her eyes caught sight of Jefferson on the floor.

"Jefferson!" she quickly rushed over and knelt on the floor beside him, "You're bleeding!" she looked up at his head which was a little cut, but nothing serious, "Are you okay? Do you need a doctor? Oh God, I did this to you-" she started to throw questions again, but Jefferson quickly put a hand up to her, asking her to stop talking.

"I'm fine." He said with a smile, getting up to his feet. He did look fine, but Belle helped him up anyway.

"I'm so sorry I pushed you. I'm sorry for everything. Is your head okay?" this made Jefferson's smile bigger.

"I said I'm fine. Honestly. You don't have to apologise for anything."

"Well then at least let me thank you."

Jefferson shrugged, "For what?"

"For trying to keep me away from Rumple, for helping me in the hospital, for always being there for me, and for always being such a good friend."

Jefferson's eyes quickly flickered towards Rumplestiltskin, who seemed grateful enough for what he's done for Belle. Then he looked back at his friend and grinned at her.

"Okay, I'll let you thank me for that." Belle laughed at her mad little friend, "I was only trying to keep you safe, that's all. Just because I care about you."

She looked at him, feeling slightly guilty when she remembered how hard he had tried to keep her safe. When she wanted to walk into the shop, he was practically begging her to listen to him. All because he cared about her. This warmed her heart, realising how much he wanted to keep her safe. She turned to Rumplestiltskin, "Rumple, do you have a cloth or a first aid kit or something?"

Jefferson started to shake his head, "Belle you don't-" but she didn't want to hear it.

"Shh!" she demanded, and he was immediately quiet.

"I have some stuff at the back. Wait here a minute." And he disappeared into his office.  
Belle looked at Jefferson and patted one of the nearby chairs, telling him to sit down. He didn't argue. Then Rumplestiltskin reappeared with a cloth and a little bowl of water. When he handed them to Belle he exchanged a look with her, saying he wanted Jefferson out of here so they could talk. She quickly shot him one back, letting him know that he must be patient.

Belle started to tend to the cut on Jefferson's head, "You know, the curse is broken," he looked up at her as if he knew what she was about to say, "that means Grace is going to be looking for you." he had already started to shake his head, and Belle was immediately annoyed, "What?"

"I've told you already. She'll hate me."

Belle shook her head, "Stop saying that! You can't say that! Not until you've talked to her yourself." He winced a little when she accidently pressed on his cut a little too hard.  
Rumplestiltskin stayed quiet behind them. Trying to be patient and waiting for Jefferson to leave, so he could be with Belle.

"But I left her. I left her fatherless!"

Rumplestiltskin couldn't help but relate Jefferson's problem to his own. He stayed silent, thinking about his son.

But Belle didn't want to hear him talk like this anymore, "And now you can go see her and she won't be anymore. Jefferson, listen to me," she said sternly, "you've wanted Grace back all this time. Now that you finally have the chance to see her again, you're too much of a coward to face her. How do you plan on seeing her if you're too afraid to talk to her?" She finished up tending to his cut and threw the cloth on the table in a little annoyance. "Go find her."

Jefferson couldn't help smile at her seriousness, "Belle…"

"I said go." She demanded.

He looked at her with a grin and stood up, gave her a tight hug and whispered in her ear, "You can be so bossy sometimes, you know that?" Belle laughed and hugged him tighter,

"It's because I care about you." he let go and looked into her eyes.

"I know." She gave him one last squeeze on his hand before he left to go find his daughter.

Rumplestiltskin walked up from behind her, "You can be quite persuasive when you want to." She turned around to face him.

"I guess it just annoys me a little when people want to be with their loved ones, but aren't willing to fight for it."

Rumplestiltskin kept quiet. Not exactly sure if this was directed at him. But then Belle could see the look on his face, "Oh, Rumple, no. Don't think about before. Look, I'm sorry about all those things I said about you being a monster, and me hating you." she took her hand in his and looked at him, feeling guilty.

"But…they were true. Weren't they?"

Belle hesitated for a moment, "No…maybe some of it," but then she quickly added before he could think anything bad, "but those were my feelings from before. You know, when I left you in our other land. I guess my feelings from then were forced to come out now. I was angry, but trust me, I _never _hated you."

Rumplestiltskin felt a little relived that what she had said before was just her old-self talking. But he did feel guilty for making her feel like that all those years ago.

"Rumple, I'm so sorry-"

"Stop it," he interrupted, "Stop apologising for everything. There is nothing for you to be sorry for. You were cursed. I was the one who let them get away with taking you to that hospital. If it wasn't for me, none of this would have ever happened. I should be the one apologising."

Belle shook her head and put her arms around his neck. She looked up at him and spoke quietly, "How about this: we both stop apologising for everything. It was all in the past. We're together now, and that's the only thing that matters."

Rumplestiltskin smiled at his beauty. She was right. He had waited so long to be reunited with her again. He didn't want to waste their time together by apologising for everything that they did. That was in the past. This is now.

"You're absolutely right." he leaned down and kissed her on the lips, reminding her once again of their kiss back at the wheel in their land decades ago. Back then she would have never thought they would ever see each other again. Let alone be able to kiss each other. But that proves that the future is never what it seems. And that was what made Belle happy. But right now, they were going to enjoy the present, and not think about the future just yet. The curse was broken. That meant there were a few things that would need to be sorted out.

She ran her fingers through his hair, and smiled when she felt his hands round her waist. When they broke away she nuzzled along his jaw, smelling the cologne that this new world gave him. He no longer smelt of gold magic. She guessed that was a good thing. That he didn't have any magic.

He put his lips to her ear and whispered, "I love you, Belle."

He felt her smile against his skin. And she whispered back, "I love you too, Rumple."

* * *

**Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed! I love reading your reviews. Some of you really make me laugh at them.  
I wish all of you luck for the wait for season 3! And, I hate to remind you, but the even longer wait until our poor Rumplestiltskin and Belle are reunited...**


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